The Way Our Horizons Meet
by scripturia
Summary: When the war ended, Katara thought she was finished doing crazy, reckless, life endangering things. Six years later, she realizes that this is not true as she suddenly joins the Kyoshi Warriors, who are now Fire Lord Zuko's personal guard.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender**

* * *

Katara believes in two kinds of change.

The first consists of knowing- knowing that things need to be different, and, with support and dedication, the desired change will come. The second is abrupt, taking over someone so suddenly that they do not even know it until their lives are now completely different from what they have been, and from what they will be.

The Southern Water Tribe has been built on the former belief. Years of strenuous and meticulous reconstruction gives the tribe the grandeur of its northern sister, but the people who have built the flowing canals, icy bridges, and elaborate buildings are still as humble as when their home only consisted of a few broken tents and dilapidated igloos.

The latter belief swims deliberately in Katara's mind now, as she hurriedly writes a letter to her family. Her inky goodbyes smear on the page when she folds the wet words onto each other. It hardly concerns her; the ink will be legible enough when dry, and the tear drops that fell in immaculate circles on the sturdy paper will be undetectable.

The waterbender leaves the note on her fur covered bed. Its fluffy coziness momentarily calls to her, persuading her that the idea in her mind is simply a fantastical notion. Katara eyes become harder than the impenetrable icy walls that now make up the home of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe's family. For days, her room has been pleading with her, her home crying like a newborn, and even Sokka's silly watch tower whines when she passes it on her daily walk. She has learned to tune these noises out; her decision had been made, and she vowed to Tui and La that she will follow it through.

Though still new, Katara is well enough acquainted with the halls of the Chief's home to slip across them in the dark. With her waterskin strapped familiarly tight across her back and her parka heavy with provisions for her journey, Katara steps out of her home for what she knows will be the last time for many moons.

The towering torches that line the streets and canals have been snuffed out, lending the job of leading Katara down the slick palace steps to the nearly full moon. The light sheet of snow from spring's first downfall is already flattened from earlier that day, giving silence to her hasty walk from the shining ice palace down to the docks.

The black sky reminds the waterbender of her letter with its wrinkles and smudges. A ferocious chill begins to crawl down her person, but instead of shielding her face with her warm hood or hiding the skin of her hands in her parka, Katara relishes in the gooseflesh she won't see or feel again for some time.

Her beaded loops of hair whip her her cheeks when she abruptly halts and glances behind, catching against the dry tears that stuck to her cheeks. Shallow footprints follow her, and with a wave of her hand she erases them. Her family will certainly know just how she left the South Pole, but she wishes to spare them the sorrow of having to see them, having to feel her essence leaving them when they look at the tracks.

This is how she continues to make her way to the dock, taking away and trace of her. She muses this ironic action for a moment, as the master waterbender can never be fully effaced from her homeland. She is found in the architecture of the palace, the canals, the fountains, she is loved by the students she teaches bending and healing to, and she is felt in the hearts of her people, her family, her friends, and every life that Katara has helped save.

She is indelible, which is why she must leave.

A cargo ship waits for her at the end of the dock, hidden under a shadow cast by the looming mountains. A crew member is visible, prepared to raise the gangway as soon as Katara is onto the ship. She thinks she can see a brown boot tapping, and she scoffs; she is hardly late. She nods to the person as she boards the ship, receiving no acknowledgement in return. It is a surprising response, as Katara is painfully used to being revered, but she supposed the action was understandable. After all, the most likely will never see any of the hefty sum she paid the captain for passage, and for his deniability.

A few night ago, when Katara had met with the ship's captain about her passage, she requested a room near the bow, and closest to the exit. This would allow her easy, quick, and inconspicuous travel from her room to any place around the ship. The waterbender wants to avoid any contact that could trace her back to any crew member as well as the ship.

Knowing the captain honored her request of the placement of her cabin, Katara travels below deck via a flight of old, humble stairs. The loud creaks make her form a mental note to discuss ship renovations with the tribe's engineers, but she dispels the thought with a frown, reminding herself that it isn't her place any longer to do so. She pushes open the door to the first room in the corridor, and is pleased to find the room modestly furnished with a cot and a couple of chairs.

The waterbender tugs her waterskin from her back and set it on a chair, then lays on the cot. She hopes for sleep to take her, but feels her mind wander to her family. She can imagine each of their individual reactions to her letter, to finding out that Katara, their sister, daughter, granddaughter, has left them.

Sokka will find the note first. He'll assume she slept in later than usual, and be tasked with waking her up. She won't be in her room, which will then give him the impression that she left the palace earlier, either to practice bending or simply take a walk. Her brother will pick up the folded paper on her bed, and he will read it through twice. With wide eyes he will sputter, and when the disbelief subsides, Sokka will be furious with her. But once the anger settles, a wave of sadness will take over.

Her father will react with the same emotions as her brother, but in reverse. When Sokka brings him the note to read, her father's eyes will drip like melting ice and his hands will shake as he scans her words. The Chief will be rocked with devastation and sorrow. Later, however, the frustration will come.

And her grandmother- oh, her poor Gran Gran- her heart will break.

Now, Katara knows all of this. She has imagined tomorrow morning so many times, and every variation turns out the same: her family will be crushed, but they will not sway her decision. Her family, and her tribe, can do no more for the waterbender. Eventually they'll accept that leaving is her only option. "They must," she breathes. Her fervent whisper bounces around the room, and only when it stops does Katara fall into sleep.

...

A quick swiping knock on her door tells Katara that she can now deboard the ship. Already prepared with her belonging in hand, the waterbender makes the short walk from her cabin to the top deck.

The balmy breeze sidles up to her as soon as she steps into the open air, and she quickly discards her insulating parka. The air here is much warmer than that of the Southern Water Tribe, which she hadn't expected.

After almost a week aboard the ship, Katara is delighted by the prospect of walking on solid ground once more. Her giddiness is an anomaly among the members of the crew who walk passed her and down the gangway with shipments of goods. To them, this is their routine, their life. To Katara, this is uncharted territory. Well, almost.

She steps off the gangway and onto the beach, the sand molding snuggly to her feet. The waves lap at her heels, pushing her onto the dirt road that leads into the village. Katara passes orderly rows of trees and shrubbery on her way up the path. She smiles at the growing buds that are sprinkled about. Green is a color that she hasn't seen in so long, and now she will see it daily, for spring has begun and Kyoshi Island is in full bloom.

The waterbender does not stick out here, despite Kyoshi's status as an Earth Kingdom territory. The villagers are all clothed in blue, the shade almost exact to that of Katara's tunic. Though not as dark as hers, their skin is still tanned from the previous summer's labor. As she nears the main path of the village, Katara imagines herself blending seamlessly into to the community, just another hue on an open spot of their canvas.

This, she realizes however, will not be the case. Her heart, once content as she stepped onto the island, now beat a force great enough to break from her chest. The villagers notice her, one by one. They are so struck with her presence that they halt their daily activities to openly study her.

"Master Katara!" she hears someone exclaim behind her. Another to her left says, "It's the Avatar's Waterbender."

Katara keeps moving, her smile dropping. Her hands stay at her side, flexing. They beg to form tight fists, but Katara keeps them at bay. She hears more murmurs around her, forcing her to maintain a clear head and aloof demeanor. She has not come to Kyoshi for a visit, to mingle with the people or strike another trade deal.

The fact that she has not seen Kyoshi since the war makes Katara sheepish as she wades through the crowd of villagers, despite her vows to remain indifferent. She never had to travel far to see Suki. The warrior came to visit multiple times when Katara was at the Southern Water Tribe, after Katara stopped traveling with Aang…

The waterbender finds the state of Kyoshi Island intriguing. They villagers did not rebuild their town after the war, only the needed repairs and small embellishments. It is a rare moment for Katara, and she now walks slower, more deliberate to take the island in. She is not used to this feeling, this ambiance that is so reminiscent of many years ago, when there was still a war and Katara was doing worthwhile things for a cause and when she could simply roam, simply _be_.

The fresh spring air lifts her hair from her shoulder to throw it behind her back. Katara does not smile any longer, but she is glad that Kyoshi Island has remained itself.

Turning onto the path leading to the secluded wooden dojo, she does not hear the warriors as they practice. Only when Katara takes the last step up to the entrance is a faint _whoosh_ of their fans audible. The waterbender lifts her arm and knocks twice. When she hears a response she opens the door and enters.

Katara only registers the snapping of a fan being folded back before two strong, green clad arms envelop her. A squeal of, "Katara!" comes and when the figure pulls back, the waterbender is met with Ty Lee's wide brown eyes.

Her red lips stretch into a wide smile. Her gloved hands rest on Katara's sleeves, periodically squeezing them with her tight grip, clearly ecstatic as she waits for the waterbender to speak.

"Hello," comes the waterbender's scratchy reply. Her throat constricts after the words leave, and Katara doesn't think she has ever gone so long without speaking to another person.

Ty Lee turns to the other warriors who in Katara's arrival paused in their training. "Let's end it for the day, girls. We'll meet at the same time tomorrow." As the armored women shuffle out, Ty Lee offers each of them a smile and a compliment on their progress. "Awesome job today! Keep practicing!" she calls to their retreating backs.

"So!" Ty Lee's eyes sparkle as she turns to the newcomer. "How's it going? I mean, how are you? I'm sure you've been busy. Things are surely hectic around here, and…"

Katara's lips turn up slightly on their own, but the warrior's energetic words are lost on her as the waterbender studies the former acrobat. Unmistakably, it is Ty Lee under the green armor and even smooth layer of white face paint.

The warrior has obviously climbed ranks within the group to be able to lead a practice. The other warriors, none of which Katara could recognize, look at the exuberant girl with loyalty and reverence. However, Ty Lee isn't the captain, as she wears the same headdress as the others. Speaking of captains…

"I'd like to speak to Suki. Where is she?" Katara inquires, cutting Ty Lee off from her ramblings. She shifts her weight and causes the wooden floor to creak, feeling rude. But, there is a conversation she needs to have with the captain of the Kyoshi Warriors.

"Oh, she's on duty right now," Ty Lee responds.. "But you can talk to me! What's up?" she then asks. "We have so much catching up to do. How's Sokka, and Aang? Are they here, too?"

Katara shakes her head slowly. "No, it's just me."

At this, Ty Lee's eyes dull in slight confusion. "All right. Well, I'm glad you came to visit! What's the occasion? How long are you staying?"

"That's the thing, I'm…" Katara pauses. "I'm not here for a visit."

"Oh?"

"No. I'd… I'd like to stay," she replies.

Ty Lee's head cocks, the ornaments of her headdress swishing, following the movement. "I don't understand."

"I'd like to train with you," Katara confesses. "I mean, I'd like you to train me."

She sees that Ty Lee is still shrouded in perplexity. Katara has never rehearsed the words out loud, only whispers them in the confines of her mind, but she knows that to make her point clear they must come out.

So, Katara gulps in a large breath of the spring air and says, "I want to become a Kyoshi Warrior."

* * *

 **A/N: Hooray for new stories!**

 **I've been juggling this idea around for awhile, and was hesitant to start it because it's canon based, which I rarely write. However, I think it'll be an awesome challenge!**

 **This fic is set six years after the war, but disregards all of the comics afterwards such as The Promise, The Search, etc.**

 **So, welcome to the story and thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

The way Ty Lee is looking at Katara from across the table is reminiscent of Master Pakku when he taught waterbending to Katara; he couldn't understand her, and didn't quite know what to do with her.

A bewildered girl from the Fire Nation with a painted face now takes the place of a cantankerous waterbender. Within the silence Katara knows that Ty Lee is wondering what just what to do with a waterbender who wishes to become a Kyoshi Warrior.

Between the two of them sits a platter piled with all sorts of sweets, pastries and desserts. Katara glances at the rings of white sugary powder. It reminds her of crystals falling from clouds, of soft blanketed streets and light, indenting footprints. She looks away.

It always seems to be a feat to render Ty Lee speechless, and Katara has done it in a few simple words. When Katara's eyes plead with the warrior to say something, she merely motions her head to the table, inviting her to eat. From Katara's nose comes a harsh sigh. The Kyoshi Warriors must welcome their guests with food, just like when she first came here with Aang, but now it seems more of an attempt to placate the waterbender.

Katara unfolds her hands from her lap and begins to speak. "I know this is all abrupt, but I hope you will take my request into sincere consideration."

"I am," is Ty Lee response, "but first I'd like to know why you want to join us."

The waterbender runs her clammy hands on the tunic spread across her legs. "Just something different," is her brisk remark.

"All right," Ty Lee's gazes locks on Katara's. "But being one of us is no small commitment. We are law-enforcers. Protectors. Our every waking minute is spent on our duties."

"I know."

Ty Lee's painted brow furrows. Her jaws works as her mind contemplates on the waterbender sitting in front of her. "We've never taken in a bender before."

Katara leans forward on her knees. "Please, Ty Lee. I need this."

After a long moment of studying the waterbender carefully, Ty Lee nods, and Katara's relieved sigh sounds. The warriors then stands, bringing a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "I think I'll just throw you in with the rest of the recruits. I'm sure Suki would have done the same." She turns to Katara. "When are you wanting to start?"

Katara's smile fails to travel to her eyes. "I've been ready for a while."

…

"This will be your bunk," Ty Lee says as they stand next to an empty bed in the barracks. It was one of the few that did not belong to another warrior. Katara sets her waterskin and parka on the plain blanket, wondering just how expansive the all female group has become.

"How many recruits do you have?" she asks.

"Thirteen," Ty Lee replies. "Fourteen, now," she motions a gloved hand to the bender. She then moves toward a closet in the corner of the barracks, shifting through forest green garments. Beckoning Katara over, she pulls out a kimono and holds it against the waterbender. Content with the fit, Ty Lee hands it to her then moves on to the next piece of the uniform. "Your armor," she hands over the leather piece that will cover her torso and shoulders. "Gloves." They are thick like the armor. "And headpiece." Katara fingers the tassels, making them swing like a pendulum.

The waterbender unloads her full arms back onto her cot, hanging her uniform up while Ty Lee gathers her a pair of trousers and boots. When the warrior returns, Katara is running her fingers across the gilded headdress and almost misses the other woman's question.

"How's everything with your tribe, and your family?"

She wishes her heart would cease to constrict painfully at the mention of her home. Just this once, Katara didn't hope for separation to make her heart fonder. "Really well," she manages to say without her voice shaking. "My family is healthy and content."

"And they support your decision to come here?" the former acrobat inquires.

Katara turns her head to her uniform, now hanging pristinely above her cot. She caresses the green kimono. It's coarser than she imagined. "I needed change of pace," she replies. "They'll support that." Maybe. Possibly. In due time, perhaps.

Though still fixated with the kimono, Katara knows Ty Lee is looking at her with confounded eyes while biting her lip. The Kyoshi Warrior says, "The girls will come back soon, so you can meet them then. Being a recruit, you'll have multiple instruction sessions daily, but every morning we have a full group practice." Katara hears her shift her weight-bearing leg. "Well, I'll leave you to rest after your journey."

A moment passes before Katara says out loud, "When will Suki be available to speak with?" She moves her gaze to look at the other girl, but Ty Lee is already gone.

…

The next morning finds Katara hopelessly lost in the mechanics of how to dress as a Kyoshi Warrior. She wakes all too late, alone in the barracks, figuring the other girls were oblivious to the fact that a member of the Water Tribes, especially a waterbender, will sleep through morning unless roused into consciousness.

It isn't that the bender is unwilling to change into the traditional uniform; she doesn't know how. Trousers and boots are simple enough, but the kimono and armor need to be fastened will all sorts of ties, and Katara, in her groggy morning stupor can't fathom applying the face paint herself.

Katara decides to forgo the uniform, instead attempting to smooth down her wrinkled tunic, slip on her thick, fur-lined boots, and hastily leave the barracks, hoping she isn't late for morning practice. The path from the barracks to the dojo is silent save for the crunching gravel beneath her feet. She hurries past the village's main road, which hold the buildings, houses, and vendors on an outstretched arm that leads to the ocean. She had traversed it multiple times just yesterday, after Ty Lee left her to her own devices.

She had stayed out until dusk, studying the waves of blue people as they moved around their village. They roll from their homes to buy produce and goods, meeting with friends and family, enjoying the sun and the crisp, changing air until they depart like tired tides. Katara had retired sometime after everyone else, the moon offering to guide her back to the barracks.

The waterbender approaches the dojo with quickening strides, as Ty Lee's form is apparent as she waits on the top step. When Katara is close enough she sees the other woman's tense white jaw and disapproving red lips.

"Where is your uniform?" she questions as Katara finally reaches her.

The warrior is as terse as Katara has ever heard her, and the bender allows herself to be sheepish when she admits, "I woke up late, and couldn't figure out how to put it on."

She can see sympathy soften Ty Lee's gray eyes. "I understand," she tells Katara. She motions through the door. "Come inside; we'll begin soon."

The waterbender is taken by a strong sense of deja vu when she crosses the floor of the dojo, the other warriors halting in their chatter to watch her. Yesterday, she was asking for a chance. Now, she is asking for acceptance. Which, will not be terribly hard to gain, Katara thinks as she gauges the countenances of the other warriors. She piques their curiosity, and perhaps incites some suspicion, but the joining factor is that every painted face is devoid of contempt.

Katara had become acquainted with the other women, fully fledged warriors and recruits, when she came back to the barracks last night. A few mistook her for a civilian because of her blue garments, but Ty Lee was quick to announce her arrival on the island, as well as her intention to join their band of warriors. Their painted-on masks couldn't hide their quizzical expressions, but as Katara was introduced to everyone, she did not feel judgement coming from the women.

She feels the same now, standing in a row with the warrior, ready to begin practice. They easily pull their stares away as Ty Lee takes center in front of them. However peculiar these women find her situation and her desires, it eases the waterbender to think that these people could be the first to see around her past and help her embrace the blank slate she so desperately wants.

Katara observed those many years ago, when she first came to Kyoshi with her brother and Aang, that Kyoshi Warrior fighting style uses the same primary principle as waterbending, in which an opponent's force is used against them. As Ty Lee begins a series of forms, Katara still finds this idea to still be true. Following along as the warriors move together, she can imagine herself using the same forms while controlling water. The group's movement are smooth, with strong legs and fluid arms, and Katara heart swells as she is finding the style easy to pick up.

After a few repetitions of simple drills, Ty Lee pauses to pull her shining fans from her belt and snaps them open. Katara watches as the women around her quickly do the same, but then finds herself empty-handed. Luckily, Ty Lee notices her lack of weapon, walking to her and saying, "Oh, I almost forgot! Here you go." She hands the waterbender a pair of fans, but they are unlike the ones that Ty Lee sports. They are not the strong, metal weapons the Kyoshi Warriors wield; instead they are a pliable wood, still thick, but soft enough for Katara to break if she uses enough force.

She begins to say, "What-"

Ty Lee, however, already knows her question, and tells her, "A Warrior of Kyoshi must earn her fans. For now, you will practice with these, just as a rest of the recruits do."

Katara's face twists involuntarily, but she takes a moment to look at the weapons of the surrounding women. Her shoulders lower in ease as she finds that Ty Lee is indeed telling the truth; she is not the only one holding the wooden fans in hand.

Ty Lee moves back to the front of the group. "All right," she says, "let's resume."

Katara opens her fans, mildly disappointed that they don't sing with the same sharpness as some of the others. But she reminds herself that having to work for what she wants is not coming as a surprise. She isn't under the illusion that she can just waltz into the village and become one of them. These women take their titles as Warriors of Kyoshi in the most serious manner, and because of that dedication to tradition Katara knows that to become like them, she must honor their process of initiation.

Katara and the other warriors follow Ty Lee once more. These drills are still smooth, but consist of more body movement, more stepping to the side or forward, more raised legs and arms, and Katara finds her breath becoming increasingly shallow with each repetition. The fans feel foreign under her fingers. She understands that like any weapon, they are an extension of her arms, but the weight of them causes her to become clumsy and unbalanced; she's never had to touch something tangible while waterbending. Katara supposes she spoke too soon, for taking on the style of the Kyoshi Warriors is proving to be more of a challenge than she previously thought.

Ty Lee calls for a break, but only for those who have actually reached warrior status; they are dismissed, leaving the interim captain with fledgling recruits. She allows them a moment of rest, and in that moment Katara fully notices her tunic sticking to her body, drenched in perspiration. Naturally, she raises a hand to bend the sweat from her body.

When the bender turns back from disposing the liquid out of an open window, Ty Lee is suddenly before her, storms warring in her gray eyes.

"There's something you need to know, Katara, if you truly intend to become a Kyoshi Warrior."

"What is it?"

Ty Lee's next breath is unsure of itself. "You know that the Kyoshi Warriors trace their history back to Avatar Kyoshi?" Katara nods. "Good. However, the women on the island who became the first warriors were not gifted with bending abilities. Instead, the made themselves proficient in weaponry: swords, shields, and Kyoshi's symbolic fan. As such, this is how the Kyoshi Warriors have remained," she finishes.

Katara's mouth puckers. "What are you saying, Ty Lee?"

"That as long as you remain with us, you will not be allowed to use your bending abilities."

As if physically shocked, the tribeswomen takes a step back. "Not… waterbend?" she says, incredulous.

"Correct," Ty Lee replies. "I hate very much to tell you this, to restrict the gift the Spirits have bestowed upon you. But, you must understand that the Kyoshi Warriors take immense pride in the fact that we are formidable with the simple strength our bodies naturally give us."

Katara is unable to catch a breath to reply, like a wave has crashed over her and she is unable to swim up from its depths.

Ty Lee reaches a hand out to her. "Please don't let this turn you away, Katara. You obviously came here for a reason, and after a night of thinking it over, I believe you need this, as well," she tells her.

The bender can't even manage a nod. She clasps her hands in front of her because they are trembling in uncertainty.

The battling storms in the warrior's eyes begin to subdue, leaving a steady shower in their wake as Ty Lee leans in and all but whispers, "I have never seen your aura so dark in all the time that I have known you."

* * *

 **A/N: You might be wondering when all of this oh so riveting exposition will be over so we can get to the good stuff, so I'll say within the next two chapters will we catch up with Suki, Zuko, and the like.**

 **Also, the response that this story has already received makes me amazingly happy and incredibly grateful. It definitely eases some of my nerves about writing this.** **So, thank you for your reviews, follows, and favorites, and thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

"The first step," Ty Lee instructs, "is the base. Make sure you have a smooth layer that reaches your hairline. And don't forget to cover your neck!"

Katara watches as Ty Lee applies a generous amount of the white make up onto her forehead, cheeks, chin, then attempts to mimic the seasoned warrior. After the tribeswoman had shown up to the practice without uniform, the cheerful warrior vowed to promptly get her up to speed in the art of looking like a Kyoshi Warrior.

So, the interim captain has woken her newest recruit early, just as the sun caresses the horizon, to help her, saying that mastering the mentality of a Kyoshi Warrior is rooted not just in their skill as a warrior, but also in the connection of their appearance to Avatar Kyoshi.

"Next step!" Ty Lee announces, her face a shining white moon. She hands Katara a small pot and a brush, then grabs her own and dips the tip of fine hairs into red paint. Bringing her hand up to her eye, Ty Lee starts a little below the corner of her eye, on the side of her nose's bridge, and paints one of her eyelids with even strokes, ending at her temple. After a moment of hesitation, Katara swirls her brush into the liquid and begins on her own eyes. Ty Lee masterfully finishes in hardly any time, but Katara focuses on her reflection in the mirror, trying to replicate the look. When both of Katara's eyes lie in a pool of red, Ty Lee begins to paint her lips with the bright hue, and the bender follows suit.

"And, the last step," the warrior tells her, switching the red makeup in Katara's hand with another pot, this one now filled with black. After being given a new brush, she follows the other woman's motions as she expertly lines her eyes and brows with the inky liquid.

"Finished!" Ty Lee exclaims, then studies Katara's handiwork. "Well done," she appraises. "See, it's easy. You'll be able to get dressed in your sleep, eventually!"

Already clothed in her trousers and tunic, Ty Lee assists her with the armor, teaching the bender how fasten the leather to her torso and the wrist guards to her arms. The warrior tells her that each warrior is allowed to determine their own hairstyle to set them apart from the rest, but Katara simply pulls her long mane into a low wolf tail, needing time to mull over the piece of her ensemble that will give her a shred of identity within the uniform group.

As soon as Katara settles the golden headdress to herself, Ty Lee claps her gloved hands together, squealing. "See for yourself!" she cries, spinning the bender around toward the mirror. "You look amazing!"

Amazing, Katara thinks when she gazes at herself, is too vague of a word to describe her. Her dark skin is hidden under a blanket of white, and she is wrapped in various shades of green and gold instead of blue and violet. She is unrecognizable, unless someone is to study her ocean colored eyes; they are now the only hint of her identity, her heritage, her past.

No, Katara reminds herself as she moves closer to her reflection, there is still something else. Her gloved hand comes up to touch the cool stone resting at the hollow of her throat. Fingering the carving, Katara frowns, not because she is unwilling to take her mother's necklace off, but because she finds herself partial to the idea of not wearing it.

Is she insulting her family, her tribe by doing this? Insulting her mother's memory? What is she, Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, without this piece of jewelry, which is never left out in any painting of her since the war, or any heroic story a person might tell from the war years ago?

 _Just_ herself. _Just_ Katara.

Her leather-clad fingers slowly slide around her neck, undoing the clasp of the necklace. She holds is in one palm; her neck itches in its absence. Her heart's palpitations can be felt within her throat, but she knows this feeling is not from sadness or nostalgia. Her hands and fingers ache to bend, to be free of the restricting gloves, and her arms and legs protest the leather guards and thick kimono, and her feet yearn to be surrounded by soft, fur-lined boots once more, but her heart- oh, her ready heart- is beyond feeling mundane emotions. Katara's heart feels transcendental. It feels liberated.

"Katara?" comes Ty Lee's warm but hesitant voice from behind her. "Are you okay?"

The bender just then notices the thickness in her throat, the fat tears rolling down her white cheeks and landing in her palm in circles around her mother's necklace. Her eyes slide to meet Ty Lee's in the mirror. "Yes," Katara breathes. "I am."

The weight of a komodo rhino seems to be lifted from her chest. "I am," she says once more, followed by disbelieving laughs.

Ty Lee's face contorts in clear confusion at the swift transformation from the previous bout of tears. "Well, all right then…"

Katara moves to wipe the tears from her cheeks, and when none of the white makeup is transferred to her glove, her eyes widen in pleasant surprise. "Is this paint water-resistant?"

Ty Lee beams. "Oh, yes! The first Kyoshi Warriors created it to not be disturbed by sweat, tears, or rain. You can practically do anything in it!"

"Good to know," Katara chuckles, surprising herself. She has not laughed this much in quite a while.

The sun makes itself known then, barreling through the open windows to engulf Katara and Ty Lee's reflections in light. They both hear a faint stirring within the barracks, and within moments the voices of the others warriors are audible. Ty Lee grins at Katara. "Ready?"

She momentarily remembers the necklace in her palm, and after a moment of thought ties it snugly onto her belt, then responds with an emphatic, " _Yes_."

…

Two full days pass, and Katara's progress is slower than she likes to admit. It's the fans; they are too heavy, too noticeable to maneuver in her hands. During practices and spars, Katara blanches as some warriors use both fans and swords. She never had a need for weapons in the past, and her body seems to refuse to accommodate them now.

She approaches Ty Lee during a break from morning drills. The woman offers her a smile and says, "I'm impressed, Katara. You've come so far already!"

The bender groans. "You don't have to give me false encouragement," she responds. "I'm quite dreadful with these," she holds up the wooden weapons.

Ty Lee's head cocks in sympathy, letting her tight smile loosen for a moment. "Yes, I can see that. But you know, I had the same problem when I first joined," the interim captain reveals. "I was so comfortable with the chi blocking method that I never needed-"

The warrior halts, then snaps her fingers in realization, a brilliant idea spilling over in her gray eyes. "That's it!"

"What is it?"

"Chi blocking!" Ty Lee exclaims.

"What about it?"

"I'm going to teach you. I've already taught a few of the others, and they say I'm a very good instructor!" the former acrobat replies.

At Ty Lee's words Katara is abruptly brought back to a moment in a forest in the Earth Kingdom. She sees Ty Lee cartwheeling around her, can feel the pricking jabs that made her arm lose all sensation. Now wary, she says, "I'm not sure if chi blocking will be more productive than the fans for me. Besides, isn't it a bit counterintuitive for a bender to be able to both bend and block bending?"

"That's why you'll excel," Ty Lee affirms. "You are a healer, right? Your knowledge of the human body should be as extensive as mine!"

It most definitely is, Katara thinks. She would not have had the ability to establish the largest medical facility in the South _and_ instruct every other waterbender wishing to become a healer otherwise.

Ty Lee gazes at her earnestly, and Katara can't stop herself from caving. What the warrior has done for her within the past week is immeasurable. She concedes. "All right," Katara sighs, "I'll give it a try."

The other woman's joyful squeal must be audible from the other side of the island. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun! Meet me in the dojo this afternoon and we'll get started."

…

With the sun paying close attention from its perch in the middle of the sky, Katara meets Ty Lee in the dojo with a mind that simultaneously wishes to be closed and open to the new endeavor.

The former acrobat sits comfortable in the middle of the padded mat that covers the hard wooden floor, and instructs Katara to sit across from her. When the bender settles, Ty Lee begins.

"As the name states, I will be teaching you how to effectively disable the flow of energy in both benders and nonbenders. This technique takes years to learn and master, but you should have a head start," she stated. "Compared the other warriors I've attempted to teach, you're practically years ahead!" Ty Lee exclaims. "Anyways, because you have to know where you're applying pressure, we'll start with location. Do you know where a great majority of pressure points are located?"

"The spine," Katara responds instinctively. "The abdomen, and major joints."

The other woman beams. "Good! I won't go through them all, as you'll eventually learn which ones have more impact on restricting chi flow. Instead, I'll teach you ones I routinely use." She points the areas as she names them, "Shoulder and inside of the elbow for both benders and non benders," Ty Lee says. "Pressure points in the shins come in handy often, especially when facing firebenders and earthbenders- I made the mistake once of blocking both of a firebender's arms but not their legs, and I was almost burned," she admits, uncharacteristically shy.

"Then there is the collarbone. Very effective, but can be dangerous if hit hard enough. I only use it in dire circumstances," Ty Lee grimaces. At her pause, Katara collects this new information and stores it in an uncharted corner of her mind.

"There are some that can be even more harmful, and that I advise you not to attempt, such as the temple, base of the throat, and the area where the head meets the spine." Katara nods in complete understanding, knowing that even one hit to these areas that is too forceful can cause permanent damage and even be fatal.

"Now that we've covered location, there is the aspect of movement. I alternate between three different styles of hits. One," she moves her index and middle fingers together and makes a fist with her hand. "Two," Ty Lee connects her fingers and thumb together at the tips. "And, three," she curls her pale digits toward her palm, "Any of the middle phalanges."

"These all work in varying degrees depending how much force you use, as well as the location of the point you're hitting. With practice, you'll figure out what hand postures work best for you," Ty Lee tells Katara.

The Kyoshi Warrior then instructs, "We'll put those two ideas together, and also get a feel for different levels of pressure. Take your dominant hand press it to the inside of your elbow on your other arm. Like so," she demonstrates, straightening the arm of her non-dominant hand, then using her index and middle fingers together to press into the fleshy crook of her elbow underneath her kimono.

Katara mimics her, lightly pressing into her own skin. Other than the slight sting from immediate contact, she feels no restriction to her chi flow.

"Next, try pressing harder and harder," Ty Lee says. "You feel more pain than before, but your meridians are still open. Can you sense that?"

Katara nods. "That's good. Now, pull your hand back for a moment, then strike quickly at the same spot."

As soon as the bender does, a loud gasp escapes her. With wideened eyes, Katara clutches her limp arm, turning quickly to look at Ty Lee. The women's expression contrasts her wary one; Ty Lee is delighted.

"Nice work!" the warrior whoops as one of her arms lays limp at her side. "We'll wait until our chi isn't blocked anymore, then move on."

As Katara cradles her offended arm, she finds it difficult to pinpoint the precise feeling of this numbness. The only comparison she can imagine is when she wakes up to a sharp tingling sensation whenever she sleeps on her arm at an awkward angle. But even then, there is still some tactile sense. With her chi temporarily cut off, all feeling from her elbow to fingertips has been lost.

"I can only vaguely remember the few times you chi blocked me during the war," Katara states. "But I don't recall if it felt this debilitating before."

"As you grow as a bender, your chi flow becomes stronger. Chi blocking can completely and powerfully incapacitate those who have mastered their bending style, resulting in total loss of sensation that can even spread throughout the body. But it also gives them the advantage of a more forceful flow of chi pushing against the blockage, therefore recovering in less time than less experienced benders and nonbenders," Ty Lee replies thoughtfully.

Katara begins to rub her arm when she feels the numbness start to subside. After a few minutes she can flex her arm, rotate her wrist, and wiggle her fingers once more. With all feeling regained, Ty Lee stands and Katara does the same.

"Now, I'll move on to showing you actual chi blocking in fighting, but we'll take it extremely slow. How familiar are you with close combat?"

"Uh, not very," Katara replies.

"We'll have to work on that," says the warrior, "as it makes up a lot of the chi blocking style. But for now, try to land a hit on my collarbone."

Katara's face contorts. "Are you sure?"

"Yup!" At Katara's hesitancy, the other woman encourages, "Just try it."

After a deep breath, Katara lunges forward at Ty Lee to strike her, but before the bender can even react to the other woman's movement, Ty Lee has blocked Katara's attempt with her arm, has slid around to the bender's back, and is casually resting two fingers at a pressure point in Katara's spine.

"Try again!" the warrior says, coming back to face Katara's front.

Katara does the motion again, this time stepping into it more. This, however, backfires, and Ty Lee uses Katara force and pulls the bender into her quickly, and before Katara can blink the other woman's fingers are prepared to strike the pressure point on her collarbone. Katara huffs in frustration.

"You're doing just fine, Katara," Ty Lee says. "All benders have difficulty with nonbending techniques."

If she was allowed to waterbend, Katara thinks, she wouldn't need to learn new fighting techniques.

When the thought finishes crossing her mind, Katara strives to stave off the torrent of longing at the idea being able to bend, but to no avail. She is momentarily distracted as her fingers begin to tingle, the feeling crossing over her entire person. Her body wishes to answer the call of the ocean that can be seen right out the dojo's window. It has been three days since she last called any water to her. Katara catches herself frequently, whether it has been to refill a pitcher of water of heat up her bath, but she finds her resilience weakening; using her waterbending daily is an almost unbreakable habit.

Ty Lee's bright voice brings the bender back into focus. "Be careful with your attacks. Make sure you pull back in less time than it takes you to strike. Otherwise, your opponent will use your force against you, as you have just seen."

Katara opens her mouth to speak, but is cut off by an inhuman screech that flies in from outside and perches on the sill. "Oh, how adorable!" Ty Lee melts as she crosses the floor. She caresses the raptors red-brown feathers a few times before opening the canister on the messenger hawk's back and pulls out a small message scroll. When she straightens her arm for the creature to settle on her leather wrist guard and promptly coos at the bird, a corner of Katara's lips lift as she is reminded of Sokka's fervent affection for Hawky so many years ago.

Her chest tightens at the memory, but she doesn't allow herself to dwell on it as she notices the perplexed and anxious expression being etched into Ty Lee's face as she reads the message.

"Who is it from?" Katara inquires, walking toward the warrior.

"Suki."

Katara's eyebrows arch, excited at the mention of the captain she has wished to speak with since she arrived. However, a second later her forehead wrinkles and creases as confusion sets in. She voices her thought, "But-I thought Suki was on the island." Where is the captain, that she needs to messenger hawk to communicate with the warriors?

Ty Lee shakes her head. "No, she and some of our other sisters were enlisted two months ago as bodyguards," she says absently, still perusing the scroll.

"For whom?" Katara probes. "And where?"

"They are in the Fire Nation Capital, acting as a personal guard for Fire Lord Zuko. And," Ty Lee looks up from message to gaze at Katara, "she needs our help there."

That insurmountable wave- the very same one that overcame Katara the moment she was told she couldn't bend as a Kyoshi Warrior- comes back. It drags her down and down while she reaches for the surface.

This rolling tide of change, of uncertainty, keeps crashing over Katara even as Ty Lee scribbles black characters in reply on the scrolls, seals it into the canister, and sends the hawk away. Even as she and Ty Lee return to their practice -where Ty Lee begins to actually block Katara's chi in a cycle of strikes, then waits for the tribeswoman to recover- Katara is unable to escape from a rush of perturbation at the certainty that she will now be uprooted from the life she has lived in the past few days and be relocated to the Fire Nation.

Eventually, however, as Ty Lee keeps jabbing at her pressure points with lightning precision, as Katara is knocked down over and over again at the hands of the warrior only to get back up again and continue learning, continue strengthening herself, the idea of going to Fire Nation begins to leave her in the same, oddly pleasant state as being chi blocked- numb.

* * *

 **A/N: I apologize for the messiness of this chapter, as far as continuity goes. Curse you, time skips, and your necessity!**

 **But, hey, we're getting somewhere, and next chapter features a very distinct scene change- and Zuko.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

The rocking of the ship as it traverses the ocean carrying trade goods, the standard crew, and six Kyoshi Warriors would not usually aggravate Katara. Any other time in her life, being surrounded by water would placate the bender.

Now, she hardly has the strength to look out at the horizon. That thin line, where the sea stretches on for more miles than Katara can imagine, mocks her. Worry and confusion have been rumbling in her stomach for a week, since the moment her new boots stepped onto the ship headed for the Fire Nation, and to make her senses itch even more, she is now surrounded by an ocean of water without any occasion to bend it.

Turning her gaze from the sea, Katara studies her new fans, now made of a gilded metal and sharper than her brother's swords. They glitter in the sun as she spreads the folds. The feel is still new after she had previously practiced with weapons made from wood. The memory of the ceremony to induct new Kyoshi Warriors a few days prior lingers in the waterbender's mind. Feelings of pride had punctuated most of that day, but relief also inundated her mind. With these fans, she is a true Warrior of Kyoshi; nothing can change that. Not even the moon's pull can tear her away from the women who are now her sworn sisters in combat.

"Good morning, Katara!" Ty Lee says, stepping up next to Katara's spot, nestled up to the side of the ship on the open deck. "You're up earlier than usual."

"I couldn't sleep much," she responds, giving a long glance to the full moon that is now reluctantly leaving the sky to make room for the sun.

Ty Lee hums in understanding. "You are looking a little green, too," she adds.

Katara turns to view her comrade and friend fully. With a puzzled frown she says, "I do? I've been on ships before, even during the worst of storms."

Ty Lee laugh in reply is almost secretive. "No, no," she says. "Not here," she makes a circle in front of the bender's face with her pointer finger. "But here," she motions to a spot above Katara's head. "And a smidge here, as well."

Katara's reaction of complete perplexity only garners another giggle from the other woman. Then, without any explanation, she leaves Katara to go below deck once more.

The bender sighs. She opens and closes fans, hoping that if she watches them catch the light long enough she'll forget the way the sea calls to her blood. It isn't so much a feeling of pain that comes when she represses her bending. It is a thrumming throughout her body, a beat entirely opposite from the constant pulsating of her heart. It swells, it wanes. It courses, hot and fast one moment then slow and thick the next.

On Kyoshi, this feeling was manageable, as long as she didn't travel too close to the beach. But in the middle of the ocean, the water's call makes her wants to jump into the warm, salty sea and surround herself completely in it.

Katara resists, however. If being a Kyoshi Warrior means she must not waterbend, then she will bear the consequences.

…

When Katara hears the ship is approaching the lands of the Fire Nation, she is surprised that she had not known sooner. The first time she arrived in the Fire Nation, six years ago, she recalls, it smelled of ash and smoke. The potent fragrance had stuck to her clothes for weeks. And wasn't the air a cloud of coal?

As she travels to the top deck, Katara takes a surreptitious sniff. Her nose wrinkles, not in disgust, but in astonishment. The air is as clear as her homeland's, and the vague scents of jasmine and sandalwood curl up into her nostrils.

How long ago did this change take place? Katara visited the Fire Nation with Aang often the first few years after the war, and though the frequency of their visits dwindled, she still stopped by from time to time. But even then, even after peace was solidified, that burning smell still permeated the air and clung to her robes.

Katara goes to stand with the Ty Lee and the other warriors as chains of islands pass them. The Fire Nation is in clear view now, from the Royal Plaza all the way up to Caldera City as it rests in the dormant volcano. This excites the warriors, and they chatter back and forth about fine dining in the palace and incomparable shopping districts and handsome young nobles. Ty Lee carries her signature smile as she rocks back and forth on her toes, her excitement almost tangible.

The waterbender knows she doesn't have as much of an incentive to be excited about this relocation as the other warriors. Something akin to dread mixes with the sweat that runs down her back due to the warmer climate of the Fire Nation. She has no insight as to how her arrival will be acknowledged, or even how her newfound status as a Kyoshi Warrior will be taken.

With a nervous huff, she folds her fans and ties them to the sash as her waist. The Great Gates of Azulon watch as they ride the smooth current into the harbor. The likeness of former Fire Lord Azulon stares, imperious and challenging, seeming to be asking Katara the same question she ponders herself: What are you doing here?

They dock quickly, disembarking the ship with purpose. Katara, like many of the other warriors expected to travel on foot while on route through the Royal Plaza, Harbor City, and up the winding roads of the volcano to reach Caldera City. They are all surprised when a group of tundra tanks meets them at the start of the Royal Plaza's long cement forum.

Katara notices Ty Lee twitch beside her, feels the woman's sudden irritation. When the group of Kyoshi Warriors is approached by guards driving the tanks, Ty Lee takes a deliberate step to meet them.

"What is all of this for?" she demands in a voice Katara didn't know the chi blocking expert even possessed. "Is Fire Lord Zuko trying to hide us from the public?" She waves her arms at the heavily armored vehicles emphatically.

The guard in front shuffles on his feet for a moment before answering, "His Majesty wishes your arrival to be as inconspicuous as possible."

Ty Lee huffs, most likely knowing she will not get the guards to defy the will of their ruler. Reluctantly, she motions on approval to the other warriors and they board the vehicles.

Katara sits next to the interim captain as the latch on the tundra tank is closed. Dimly lit, the smell of metal and coal overpowers all other senses. The ride is occasionally bumpy, and for a long time neither warrior speaks. After the vehicle makes a few abrupt halts and then begins on what must be an incline, Katara feel the need to acknowledge Ty Lee's fuming presence beside her.

"Ty Lee," she starts softly, placing a hand on the other woman's forearm. "What's the matter?"

Ty Lee's gloved hands tighten and fist themselves into the folds of her tunic. "I haven't seen my home for so long, and I… I was just so excited to be back and had hoped to visit my family before we go on duty."

She sniffles a few times, and Katara takes her hand from the warrior's lap and squeezes it. "I don't doubt that you'll be allowed to see your family. Only someone heartless wouldn't allow it, and I know Zuko," she affirms.

Ty Lee sniffs once more, then squeezes Katara hand back in response. "Thank you, Katara."

"Of course," the waterbender instantly replies, the gratification of soothing a friend immediately washing over her.

"Can I ask you something, Ty Lee?" she says a moment later.

The other warrior nods. "What is with all of this?" she gestures around them as they sit inside the tundra tank. "I mean, what exactly is going on here?"

Katara remembers how grave Ty Lee's face had looked when she received the message from Suki. Katara only knows that a certain number of warrior was requested to be relocated to the Fire Nation, the Royal Palace specifically. What exactly for is what eludes the bender. What bewilders her even more, is why Ty Lee chose Katara as one of the warriors to join her. She desperately wants to ask, but decides to handle this mysterious trip one question at a time.

Ty Lee bites her ruby painted bottom lip. "I think I have an idea, but I don't want to assume. As soon as we arrive, Suki will brief us, and then we'll know for sure."

"And your idea entails?"

"It's bad," Ty Lee looks at her with raincloud eyes. "It's very bad."

…

The tanks deliver the Kyoshi Warriors to the entrance gate emblazoned with the insignia of the Fire Nation. The imposing red flame stares down at them before it slowly begins to part in half, revealing the courtyard outside of the palace.

The last time she was here, Katara recalls, was a diplomatic occasion three years prior. She stood in for her father and brother at the one of the yearly peace briefings, as her family was doing business in the Northern Water Tribe at the time.

She remembers walking the path to the main entrance of the palace with Aang, and he had moved his hand from its position holding hers to point out the barrenness of the landscape surrounding the palace. Outside the palace wall stretches miles of lush green ground in a stark contrast. "It's so quiet," the Avatar had said, and she had agreed noncommittally.

Katara travels the same path now, and it is just as quiet as before, just as still, and yet it is fitting. Maybe to Aang the rocky terrain gave off a snobbish, callous air, even after years of peace with the Fire Nation. In this moment, Katara sees it as strangely regal and serene.

The door to the entrance are pushed open by guards as the group of warriors near. They enter the Royal Palace, and while the other warriors marvel at the interior as they are swathed in red light, Katara's eyes instantly find the form of another Warrior of Kyoshi just beyond the Grand Foyer.

Upon hearing their entrance, the Captain of the Kyoshi Warriors pauses from her conversation with two palace guards and turns. Suki and Ty Lee notice each other immediately and move to greet one another, and Suki's expression is as bright as the gold molding of the palace ceiling as she embraces her friend. There is clear joy in her smile, but the longer Katara gazes at the two women she sees a typhoon of relief capture the warrior leader.

"I'll show you to the east wing, where the Fire Lord has graciously set up a barracks for us," Suki says as she pulls away. "But I'm afraid you don't much time to rest. He wishes to speak with all the new warriors, and wants their oaths to be taken as soon as possible."

Talk of oaths turns over a few times in Katara's mind, but the thought is discarded as Suki directs them quickly to their rooms. As they traverse the east wing, Katara, although she has seen them many times before, becomes enchanted with the giant tapestries that cover the hall. The warriors who are seeing the palace for the first time titter in excitement over the luxurious feel of it all.

They reach a set of doors near the end of the wing, and when the group enters the room Katara sees that Suki is indeed correct in her relay of the renovations. An impressive sitting room furnished in burgundy and gold takes center, and leading off of it on both sides sit hallways with more doors. An open entrance beyond the sitting room leads to a smaller, yet still generous, wooden space with walls lined with fans, swords, and shields that Katara assumes is for practice. It is blatant that the Fire Lord has spared no expense for their lodgings.

"We'll need to report to the throne room soon, but first, let me see what you've brought me, Ty Lee," Suki says.

Katara and her comrades go to stand side by side so Suki can move down the line. Katara is at the end, and in her periphery watches the captain appraise each warrior. Suki says nothing, hardly makes any facial expressions as she goes. She reaches Katara, and the bender's mouth abruptly becomes dry. What will Suki say to her? How will she react?

The waterbender prepares to greet her friend, but Suki's analytic gaze tells Katara she is unrecognizable.

The warrior is about to move on, about to stand back and speak to Ty Lee, but something causes her to pause. Her eyes, midnight blue, sharpen as they focus of Katara's own blue eyes, on her mahogany hair in its signature braid.

Suki sucks in a breath. "Katara?"

"Hello, Suki," the bender smiles, thrilled to see her again.

But the Kyoshi Warrior Captain visibly ignites. She doesn't return Katara's gesture; rather, all of her muscles tense and Katara's heart drops to her stomach when Suki says, "Ty Lee, take these warriors to the throne room. I'll meet you at the entrance."

They leave quietly, and Katara tries to search Ty Lee's gaze for any aid but the doors close, leaving the two war heroes alone.

"What have you done?" comes Suki's incredulous and furious voice.

Katara reels as the words hit her in a blast. "Excuse me?"

"The question is clear. What have you done?" the other woman spits.

The bender's gloved hands come to her hips, indignant and almost petulant. "I think it's quite clear."

Suki growls. "If you think this is funny, or some sort of _game_ -"

" _I don't_."

"-it's not. Lives are at stake," the auburn haired woman finishes.

Katara steps forward. "Then tell me what is going on." At Suki's silent gaze, Katara presses, "Why are you so worked up about this? Is so terrible that I'm here? I had thought you'd be glad to see me."

Suki bursts. "No like this!" she throws her arms out to wave at the bender's state, clad in the Kyoshi Warrior uniform. "Spirits, Katara, I don't see you for what? Six months? And now you're here, like this, and with everything going on I just…" Suki stops to take a breath, to rub her temples. Her shoulders tremble as a sigh leaves her. "Why, Katara? Why?"

Katara's voice is small as she replies, "Because I had to."

Crossing her arms, Suki scowls. A retort seems to be ready on her tongue, but it is stifled by a knock on the door. "We'll discuss this later," she pushes past the bender.

"Suki," Katara's voice cracks as she whirls to follow the captain. "I'm-"

"Save it," the warrior snaps. "What's done is done."

…

They meet the group at the wide doors that lead into the throne room, Katara stepping a few dejected paces behind her captain. Before they enter, Suki explains, "Fire Lord Zuko will briefly discuss the situation with you. Do not speak unless you are spoken to first, and you will use his proper title if that occurs. Understood?"

Katara nods along with the rest of the warriors. The doors then open, and all bender can see is tunnel of fire. No sound is made as they walk the smooth marble floor up to the dais, passing columns of fire and more marble that extend to the ceiling. Shadows dance all around them, ceasing only when the warriors halt and are motioned by Suki to kneel.

A shield of flames between them and Fire Lord's throne begins to dissipate, and Katara peeks from under her lashes to watch Fire Lord Zuko emerge from the spouts of fire. He stands at the edge of the dais, surveying the kneeling group with sharp amber eyes.

His voice has the quality of a crackling fire when he speaks. "I'd like to begin with a word of gratitude. I am aware you were called here on short notice, and so I thank you," he pauses for a short breath. "Welcome to the Fire Nation. And to Ty Lee," Katara hears her friend's head whip up at the sound of her name, but her eyes stay on his face to watch a corner of his lips turn up, "welcome home."

Ty Lee beams next to Katara as she rests on her knees, and the bender takes the moment to incline her head more, to see him better. The distance between them allows for an adequate view, and her eyes sweep his visage.

An anxious air emanates from the Fire Lord, and thus Katara skips past this layer of his expression to gauge the others. His jaw ticks with uncertainty, and his cheeks seem to sink from some imperceptible burden. There is annoyance, there is anger; she sees these emotions in the narrowing of his eyes, and in the furrow of his brow.

"As some of you may know, the civil turmoil in my nation is growing. There is a faction that call for my abdication, or my removal from the throne through the means of treason," he tells them. "I requested the presence of more Kyoshi Warriors in an endeavor to secure my safety, and the safety of my people. For your service, I am rewarding you with the best lodgings in the Fire Nation, as well as a weekly sum. Once again, I am deeply grateful for your presence here and am humbly in the debt of the Warriors of Kyoshi," he finishes, then gives a nod to Suki.

The captain turns to her warriors. "To serve Fire Lord Zuko, you will recite the oath of the Royal Guards. Repeat after me." She pauses for good measure, then begins, "To the throne, I give my strength, my protection."

Katara intones the words with her comrades. " _To the throne, I give my strength, my protection._ "

"To the crown, I give my steadfastness, my loyalty," Suki says.

" _To the crown, I give my steadfastness, my loyalty_."

"To the Fire Lord, I give the blood that flows through my veins," their captain states.

" _To the Fire Lord, I give the blood that flows through my veins._ "

"To the Fire Lord, I give my life."

" _To the Fire Lord, I give my life_ ," Katara breathes.

The severity of the words is not lost on her, and she thinks about them even as Fire Lord Zuko gives a pleased nod, and motions for them to rise. Even as Katara believes his gaze meets hers for a fraction before his wall of fire engulfs him once more, she hears the rattling of such simple letters creating such a complex promise. Even as she is ushered from the throne room, her back to a mountain of flames, the words stumble, trailing fire through her mind and leaving ashes in their wake.

 _To the Fire Lord, I give my life._

* * *

A/N: It may be helpful, dear readers, to do a bit of research on aura colors and meaning, as they will be used often in this fic!

Happy Holidays, everyone! Here's to a safe, healthy, happy, and successful New Year!

Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

In her first few days in the Fire Nation, Katara is the equivalent of a Pai Sho tile. Moving succinctly from place to place on the game board that is the Royal Palace, she attends general briefings of the palace's inner workings, practices daily to strengthen her warrior skills and is trained to move into a position on guard rotation, all at the controlled hands of the player who now decides her every action: Fire Lord Zuko.

Katara has always has the luxury to decide her own movements. She chose to leave the Southern Water Tribe so many years ago, chose to travel around the world for a cause that she risked her life so many times for. Even after the war, whether traveling with Aang those first few years, or returning to her tribe, the waterbender was no one's pawn.

Despite this, the taste of subordination isn't as pungent, isn't as bitter as preconceived notions led her to believe. What does leave an acrid tang on her tongue, however, comes from the unsuspecting Fire Lord.

Katara had had an inkling that, when she had taken her oath before him in the throne room, Fire Lord Zuko would have noticed her with his keen eyes that have always seemed to penetrate whatever or whomever he set his gaze on. But, he is unmindful of her presence in his guard, in his palace, and most likely even in his nation.

It is a lie to say she doesn't acknowledge this realization with some hint of warm satisfaction. If she peels back that layer, however, there is paper cut that stings with the fact that he doesn't recognize her.

Just the day before, when returning to the barracks after breakfast, she was walking with fellow warrior when he crossed their path in one of the wide corridors. Katara had a slight panic, training her gaze on one of the many vases decorating the hallway so she wasn't tempted to stare at him earnestly, to speak out to him and say, "It's me, Katara." When he neared, though, just as they were about to pass she looked at him, and his only response was a simple nod to herself and her comrade. She had kept her stride, but even after he was well behind the pair she found that her heart still rattled in her rib cage.

…

As she trains multiple times daily, Katara finds an unsurprising contrast in Suki and Ty Lee's style of fighting.

During her time of Kyoshi, Katara studied the basics of the Kyoshi fighting style under Ty Lee, and can attest to the warrior's smooth grace. Her years of acrobatics and chi blocking have influenced the way she moves- a sly, slippery sort of fluidness that reminds Katara of glossy ice that doesn't harden completely, the kind she can mold with her hands.

Suki's style is forceful, almost brutal. Clean and polished, yet sharp. The kind of danger contained in an icicle that can fall from above and neatly impale an unsuspecting person. The kind of power that knocks another warrior flat on their back after just moments of sparring.

"Next!" Suki cries as the fallen comrade next to her dashes back to the group. There is a moment of hesitation before the next warrior steps forward.

Katara and the rest the group pant as they each await their turn to spar either their captain or her second in command, who presently battles another seasoned warrior on the other end of the training ground. Ty Lee's spar has been going for some time, and because Suki rotates through sparring partners at the same speed as the flick of one of her fans, Katara and the other warriors are being run ragged by the merciless Kyoshi Warrior Captain.

They train outside, using one of the many open pavilions attached to the palace that are dedicated to practice. The spring breeze rolls through the area to help rejuvenate the fatigued warriors, and Katara savors it, as until she is allowed to assist patrols, the only time she spends outside is dedicated to training.

Suki's voice cuts through the breeze once more, "Next!" Katara glances around in search of the next victim, but by the expressions of the rest of the group, it appears that her time is up once more.

Katara swiftly departs from the group to face Suki. She opens her fans, and the metal reflect the strands of sunlight and gleams in her eyes. Nevertheless, she moves into a fighting stance.

The waterbender has observed that Suki keeps an expressionless face during every spar. Except for with Katara, that is. An aggravation sits on her face, causing her eyes to crinkle slightly, her painted mouth to pucker as if tasting the juice of an unripe moon peach.

Suki moves first, coming at Katara in a lunge with an outstretched fan. The bender manages to press her wrist guard to employ a circular shield just in time. Suki's fan clashes with the metal, but it doesn't seem to push her back. If anything, it helps to drive her forward as she swings her other fan at her opponent.

They continue like this, Katara unable to use her own fans while deflecting Suki's quick blows. Katara defends while Suki lunges, forward, forward. Like a prowling animal the Kyoshi captain pushes her prey back until Katara is almost close to the other sparring pair.

Katara plants her feet, simultaneously trying to figure out how to turn her opponent's force against her while wondering why Suki's eyes are so hard, so cold, as they meet her own.

When Suki strikes next, Katara has an idea. Inspired by her chi blocking sessions with Ty Lee, she ducks. Nothing takes the force of her blow, and Suki wobbles, allowing Katara a moment to slip to her opponent's side. Not on a defensive any longer, Katara retracts her shield and holds her fans above her, ready now to lead the spar instead of follow in it.

She runs at Suki, and the other warrior expects the clash of Katara's fan against her own. However, she doesn't anticipate Katara to once again slide away from her following blow and she falters once more.

Katara allows herself a smile and a mental pat on the back for remembering Ty Lee's techniques. In chi blocking, you get a hit in, then get out. Lunge, evade, conquer, as Ty Lee had put it during one session.

The bender does this against Suki repeatedly with success, but it costs her. She can see Suki's patience slowly smoking in kindling as they fight. She moves too quick, hits with too much force for this to be a simple practice spar any longer. With waterbending, Katara never has to run, dodge, and lunge this much, and thus her stamina drains with each move. Suki is no stranger to close combat, and Katara's deepening fatigue only fuels the now flaming Suki.

Soon, the captain is too, too close, and Katara doesn't have room to slide from under her strike, only to duck away from it. Her opponent sees this, and within a second her other fan comes forward, and Katara can see every glistening edge of a weapon immensely capable of slicing her throat as it seems to glide inches from her neck in slow motion.

Maybe it is Katara's saucer-like eyes as she falls to her knees that causes Suki to freeze. Perhaps it is the gasps of the group of warriors awaiting their next spar, or the exclamation from Ty Lee who ceases her own practice fight just to watch the one between Katara and their captain. Nevertheless, Suki stands immobile. So still, as if Katara had frozen her feet to the ground with the thickest ice.

Katara, with a calming hand reaching around her neck- just to be sure she wasn't even nicked- looks up at Suki. What she finds is her own surprise being mirrored back at her through her captain's midnight eyes.

"Practice is over," Suki calls, finding herself. "Everyone is dismissed!," she shouts, and the stunned group retreats back inside the palace. Only Katara, Ty Lee, and their captain remain.

Ty Lee tries to speak, but Katara's enraged words drown her out. "What was that? Are you trying to kill me?"

"I think the better question," Suki counters, "is why you're trying to get yourself killed."

Katara brings herself to her feet. "I asked you first," she taunts.

Ty Lee steps between them. "Katara, Suki…"

"No, Ty Lee!" Suki roars. "Stop trying to make this okay. Because it's _not_ ," she affirms, arms tense and crossed. "You deliberately deceived me by not telling me that Katara came to you. And then you made her a warrior!" Suki finishes, then turns to Katara, a single gloved finger pointing accusingly. "And _you._ Did you just wake up one day, thinking you wanted to be a Kyoshi Warrior? Was it simple for you, then? Let me tell you, from here on out, it won't be. You've no clue, Katara what it means to be a Warrior of Kyoshi."

It stings worse than any cut from a metal fan. Katara doesn't offer up any challenging words. She is done fighting Suki, at least about this. "Maybe that is true," she replies softly, "but I'm trying. I'm learning."

"That's not enough," Suki says tersely. "If you are not completely prepared, it only causes trouble. Are you even aware of the rules? The ones we have not just as Warriors of Kyoshi, but also here, in the Fire Nation."

Ty Lee steps in. "Katara knows she is unable to use her bending abilities as one of us," she relays. "I made sure to tell her as soon as she came to me."

Suki doesn't seem as all eased by this. "And what about here, in the palace?"

"Like I said, Suki, I'm learning," Katara tells her earnestly. "I'm sure Zuko would understand if-"

"See, that's just it," the captain cuts her off. "Here, you are not Fire Lord Zuko's friend. You are his subordinate. Never speak of him, or to him, without his proper title again, understood?"

Katara manages a nod, but it appears the question is rhetorical, as Suki is already walking away. She feels a hand touch her slumped shoulder, and when the bender pivots Ty Lee is still there, now offering a grin as wide as any horizon.

"Nice moves," her comrade says.

"Thanks to you," Katara responds, but the smile she returns is weak. Feeling pleased doesn't come easily. "Although, Suki didn't seem to think so."

"She'll come around eventually," Ty Lee assures her. "This… situation… has been stressing her out for some time, I can tell. Her aura is all over the place, bright yellow mixed with murky blues and reds. And with you here…" Ty Lee trails off.

"With me here, it's only one more thing for her to worry over," Katara supplies.

"No, it's just…" the warrior pauses. "You're another factor. That's all." With the bender nodding slowly, Ty Lee offers, "Why don't we work your chi blocking? Seeing your progress today was really exciting, and I'd like to work on some more difficult moves."

Despite her physical- and now emotional- fatigue, Katara is almost alarmed at how quickly her answer slides through her lips, "Sure." She'll have to be careful with chi blocking, the bender thinks. Not feeling anything can become addicting.

…

Katara wonders if Sokka keeps a tally of all the ruckus he has ever caused within a single few weeks. Because on the day that _it_ finally happens, Katara knows that she has to have beaten her brother.

She finishes her makeup with a slow rub of her painted lips, spreading the color so it covers every curve and dip of her mouth. With a last appraisal of her appearance in the large mirror of the generous powder room of the warriors' barracks, Katara is ready for the day, leaving a few of the late risers hastily applying white to their faces behind.

Ty Lee and Suki discuss some matter in the hallway, leaving Katara to awkwardly pass her welcoming comrade and indifferent captain to make it to her bunk. They are the first ones fully prepared for breakfast, as usual. Though Katara would love to sleep in every morning as long as she could, she wakes up early, almost as early as her captain, to ensure she is always the third or fourth warrior ready for the day.

Katara slips into her boots while mulling over the day's schedule. After breakfast, the warriors have a meeting with the Royal Procession. They will do rounds of the palace, then, daily training, consisting of individual and one-on-one practice. Lunch. After, a short free period, which Katara will use to practice chi blocking with Ty Lee. Next, palace rounds once more. Then more training. Dinner, followed by night rounds followed by sleep, though this depends on which night shift Katara is assigned to for the week.

With her boots secured tightly, Katara turns her armor, laid out smoothly on her cot. She puts on her wrist guards and gloves, slides into her body armor, and fixes her headpiece into place. She leaves the most difficult element, fastening her armor, for last. It always takes her an inordinate amount of time to put on, and as Katara reaches around herself she wonders if the time taken to put on her armor is really why she wakes up so early.

Her impatient scowl soon turns into an accomplished smirk. She finishes tightening her last strap, and that is when she hears it. An abrupt, unceremonious knocking- no, banging- on the doors to the barracks reverberates throughout every room. Katara winces as it continues loudly, brashly, shaking every door frame, every wall, and Katara herself. Silence lasts for a sweet moment as someone must have opened the door, but then-

" _Where is she?_ "

Being a healer, a waterbender, and even- once- a bloodbender, Katara is certain she knows more about blood than the next person. She feels it in herself, and others, as a pulse quickens, as it heats, hot and thick underneath skin. She knows what it is like to flush when embarrassed, or to feel drained of that life force when frightened pale. Katara doesn't think, however, she has ever felt her blood run cold. Not until now.

She can feel herself freezing from the inside. Veins and arteries encapsulated by frozen crystals, stiff and sharp and impenetrable. When she looks down at her arm, Katara almost expects to see icicles dangling from her person.

The bender hears it again, that demanding voice, asking the same question over and over. Then two others, attempting to placate that voice.

Katara can't even stop her stiff legs from moving, taking her from the room, through the hallway and to the barrack's entrance. She sees Suki and she sees Ty Lee and then she sees him, Fire Lord Zuko, and for the first time since she came here he finally sees her back.

With her frozen legs she steps forward, forward, until she is directly facing him, and manages not to crack as she folds like paper into a bow and says, "Your Majesty."

Katara doesn't know what it more intriguing: the taste of these words, or the Fire Lord's reaction to them. His lips part, and Katara supposes part of the shock comes from him never hearing these submissive words from her ever, and especially not to him. The other part...self-explanatory.

Both of his fists are clenched at his sides, and in one of them Katara spies a letter, but before she can wonder about it, his voice comes again, lower this time. "I'm trying to understand. Help me understand, Katara," he implores.

She tries not to think about how her name from his lips reminds her long flights on Appa, of revenge on a man she hates and abandoned air temples and the scar that becomes his second. Instead, she replies, "I have relinquished my duties at the Southern Water Tribe to serve as a Warrior of Kyoshi."

"I understand that," he says. "What I want to know is why." He turns on Suki and Ty Lee. "Did you know of this? Did you not think to tell me?"

"Everything is on my own volition, My Lord," she tells him, and for some reason her answer only frustrates him more. "If I may ask, how did you find out?"

"This," the Fire Lord holds out the letter, "was sent to me from your tribe. By your brother. Asking me if I had come in contact with you, because you apparently disappeared from the south. And today," he brings up his other fisted hand and slowly uncurls his pale fingers, "I find this in one of my corridors."

Katara's gasp is long and spreads throughout her entire person. It is the necklace. Her necklace. He has it, had found it. But how? Her gloved hands immediately fly to her tunic, where Katara is certain she had attached the necklace to the fabric. But no. He has it.

Fire Lord Zuko extends his hand to give it to her. The time it takes for Katara to take it back seems like years, because she can't help remembering herself, tied to a stake by a river, and remembering him, behind her and dangling this item by her neck.

"Please," she says lowly, losing her previous formality. "Please don't tell Sokka."

"Why?" is his response. He openly stares at her face, seemingly in search. Once when she was younger, she and Sokka made a game of hiding objects in the snow, either one of her toys or his boomerang. Finding the object meant victory. The way Fire Lord Zuko gazes at Katara reminds her of this, as he seems to hunt for something under her veil of snowy makeup. And by the subtle twitch of his lips when she meets his question with an impervious silence, Katara can see that he is losing the game.

The Fire Lord backs away a step. "While I do not like this arrangement, I see no evidence to oppose it. As such, I will honor your request."

Katara can only nod absently, her attention having been moved from him to the necklace she cradles in her hands. He moves to the door, makes it halfway through before calling back, "Suki, my study. Now."

Whatever sort of look her captain directs at the bender as she passes by is lost on Katara. In the moment there is only her and her mother's necklace. Her necklace.

Katara doesn't know whether the idea of losing the necklace, or never even acknowledging its loss makes her chest hurt more.

Is this carelessness? Recklessness?

She can't help but ask herself, now, the question Suki asked her when she first saw the waterbender. The question Fire Lord Zuko must have wanted to ask her. The question her necklace cries out as she and it are reunited when they never should have been parted at all:

What have you done?

* * *

 **A/N: Zuko can be a slippery one to write some times. but here it is- he and Katara finally meet once more!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

There had been a comfort in Fire Lord Zuko's unawareness of her presence in the palace. It had been a thick, surrounding veil, like his clouded amber eyes when he would look at her without a touch of recognition, and until that safety had been snatched away from her, Katara hadn't even a clue it was there.

Now that he knows, she is bare. It isn't so much a matter of seeing him notice her at any given time, such as in passing during rounds or when he watches in on a training session, but a matter of feeling his gaze. The waterbender can feel his eyes on her, two small kisses of flame on her back that caress her curiously. Testingly, almost.

They pass each other in the palace frequently, in one of the various halls or corridors as Katara partakes in daily palace rounds and the Fire Lord traverses to and fro for meetings. During these times, she cannot hide under her makeup or behind her fan, nor can she fix her gaze on a vase or tapestry and feign interest should he be looking at her.

However, only midday rounds are a dreaded event for Katara. In the morning she often runs into him in the east wing, and the blinding rays of the rising sun cast a wall of light that fogs up his features like steam on a mirror. And, at night, darkness shrouds them as they cross paths on his way to his suite from dinner, and she only sees his profile for the second he walks by one of the torches dotted along the walls. But during midday- Fire Lord Zuko is as bare to her as she is to him. There is no light, no dark, to obscure either of them.

Katara wonders if he knows that he mentally trips her with a mere glance in observation, like pulling out one of his fine, luxurious rugs out from beneath her. He even causes her a physical trip here and there, such as the other day when he was present to witness one of the Kyoshi Warriors' practice sessions. It had been impossible to focus, as she had the unnerving inkling that he paid special attention to every slice of her fan, every lunge and block against her opponent. The waterbender had risked several looks at his direction as he had leaned coolly against a wide pillar, and an ill-timed one landed her on her behind. She felt the bruises on the knobs of her spine for days.

Every flit of the eyes in her direction, every pointed stare- Katara brushes them off as one would an insect on their shoulder. The Fire Lord can gaze at her all he wishes. The only trouble is in finding herself unable to gaze back.

...

It is the first time since coming to a palace washed daily in red that Katara's world is blue.

Winding rods of hot cerulean arch in the sky. They look like fingers. No, they are a tree that builds onto itself, a trunk, then its branches. Then sticks and twigs and finally leaf stems. They merely come from fingers.

Katara wakes, the image of a pale hand fresh in her mind as blue slowly fades into red once more. She shakes her head once, twice, from a dream that feels both nostalgic and new.

She sits up in her bunk, looking out the window for the moon. It appears tired, drained from its job of guarding the earth while the sun is away, and Katara knows it is that delicate time of day just a little before the sun begins to return once more.

The waterbender steps quietly into her boots and changes into her tunic. She forgoes her armor and headdress, heading out of the room of sleeping warriors to paint her face.

The doors to the barracks reluctantly close without a sound as Katara steps into the hall moments later, her feet turning on their own accord and leading her through the palace.

She now begins to wonder whether what she saw in her sleep was a dream or a nightmare. A dream had certainly never woken her up before, especially at such an hour. But whenever a nightmare occurred, she was left with the feeling that only a night terror could bring.

Nevertheless, there is only one remedy to cure a soul woken too late or too early, one her Gran Gran concocted when she and Sokka would wake for any reason. Alone, sometimes together, Katara and her brother would go to their grandmother and she would happily fill their bellies with a sweet treat and a warm drink before sending them to bed once more. Musing this, Katara smirks when she realizes her legs have taken her to the palace kitchens.

There is only enough moonlight from a small window to allow the kitchens a dim glow. Her eyes take to adjusting as she makes her way to the vast pantry. Katara is unfamiliar with the many choices that sit around her on the shelves, but she supposes she has two, maybe three hours before the chefs wake to roll out the dough for morning pastries.

Like an animal stalking prey, Katara keeps a lookout for any sort of quick snack. It appears for a moment that her search is fruitful when she happens upon cloth package, but once opened she is met with the spicy scent of flaming fire flakes. In fact, as she glances along the entire shelf, the waterbender notices it is stocked only with the strong-tasting snack.

Katara snorts lightly. Who, in the name of Tui and La, needs that many fire flakes?

She takes a last scan, and- there! A glorious pack of komodo jerky waits to be devoured. Katara snatches it from the pantry shelf, and although the smell isn't as delicious as seal jerky, it will do.

The first few bites go down easily, satisfying the bender. It is as she begins to take another that hears a sound, almost like a crunching, and very near to her. Katara exits the pantry with her jerky in hand and surveys the kitchen. The crunching- like a person eating- is even more noticeable now. She turns a corner, and in that instant Katara is thankful she had swallowed that last bite of jerky, for the scene before her would have caused her to choke.

Sitting at a kitchen counter in the dark is Fire Lord Zuko with the expression of a child caught in a secret act. He is frozen as he notices her, one hand hidden inside a package of fire flakes and eyes comically wide. A mouth full with the spicy snack. If her heart hadn't leaped into her throat, Katara would have liked to laugh.

Who could have guessed that the mighty Fire Lord Zuko had a penchant for midnight munching?

Standing still, she watches as he swallows slowly. He then retracts his hand from the package, pushing it away from him and then folding both hands into his lap while straightening.

"Hello, Katara," he speaks, voice rough from either little use at such a time or the spiced flakes that linger in his throat. She suspects the latter. "You're, um, up early."

It takes her a moment to collect herself, but the waterbender finally answers, "Early for you, even?"

The corner of the firebender's lips curl. "Just nearly. Could you not sleep?"

"Something like that," she responds, remembering blue. "What about you? Couldn't sleep either?" She raises a brow, eyes flitting to the package of flaming fire flakes.

He hastily pushes the package further away. "I suppose it's something like that as well."

The conversation turns stagnant, and Katara saves herself from awkward eye contact by turning her attention to the jerky in her hand. Besides, she is not at liberty to address him outright.

His voice cuts through the silence, "I don't believe there is a rule that you have to stand so far away from the Fire Lord." Her head snaps up as his meaning is conceived. He pats the spot at the counter next to him. "Join me."

She knows it is futile to struggle against her new duty to fulfill his commands and her own personal hesitation, and strides over to where he sits. She takes a seat, still keeping a distance between them.

"So… How are you?" he starts, and the way he speaks piques her curiosity, all of these sentence fillers and long pauses. The way he seems unsure of his words to her- so different from how he spoke to the Warriors when they arrived, from how he spoke to her with a Water Tribe signed letter in one hand and her necklace in the other.

In those moments, he was acting as Fire Lord, she supposes. But what does that make him, now? Who is the man who hides away in his own kitchens to enjoy some alone time along with a guilty pleasure?

As he waits for her answer, his hand comes up to rub the back of his neck- and there he is. Not Fire Lord Zuko, regal and poised, but Fire Lord Zuko, who can be stuttering, awkward, and sheepish one moment and then passionately profound the next. Fire Lord Zuko, who undoubtedly is her friend.

"I'm… Well, I'm well," Katara replies. It's a pathetic answer, she knows he knows this as well, but he simply nods. "How have you been?"

He looks down, smirking to himself. "Never better," he says dryly.

Her head bobs slowly. His answer is just as pitiful as hers, what with both of them knowing his attempts to create lasting peace within his country even six years after the war being unfruitful.

"How long has it been?" he then asks, picking his head up slightly to give her a sideways glance. Out of the crown, his hair just barely skims over his eyes, and clad in a casual tunic, vest, and pants, he is the image of the boy she helped save the world with.

Katara lips purse in thinking. "Just a little over a year, I believe." Just a little over a year since she last saw him and he last saw her.

"Wasn't it-"

"-in the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace," Katara nods. "At the birthday party for-"

"-for Bosco the bear," the Fire Lord finishes. A quiet chuckle then escapes him. "Didn't he-"

"-eat an entire ten tiered cake?" Katara smiles.

"And then he ate the cake for the guests as well." The firebender shakes his head. "Cheeky animal. And a glutton, too."

"Sokka and I correspond frequently, but I trust the rest of your family, and your tribe, is well?" he then questions. Katara attempts not to visibly flinch, hoping he doesn't notice even though she is positive he does.

"Yes," the waterbender replies. "Everyone is very well, thank you." Her answer contains little sustenance, but despite this, he doesn't press the matter. It surprises her, how he glides easily over the subject of her family when he knows that she left without their knowledge of why and where.

"And how is Mai?" she asks, reciprocating in their conversation apparently dedicated to a catching-up of sorts.

The Fire Lord turns from her again. "We broke up awhile ago. Officially this time, I think."

"I'm, ah, sorry."

He shakes his head, hair falling into his eyes. "Don't be. It was mutual. Our relationship was as on and off as Fire Nation rainfall. Which means I will go down in history as the Fire Lord with the most break-ups," he snorts.

Fire Lord Zuko doesn't ask about her relationship with Aang, and Katara finds herself oddly grateful. Of course, he knows they parted as a couple some time ago. He had to have seen them that time at Bosco the bear's birthday party, just a little over a year ago, when the Avatar's arm was noticeably vacant of hers, when her hand chose not to hold Aang's.

The silence after isn't given too long of an opportunity to settle again as he says, "I realize that I must apologize for my curtness with you the other day. It's just… you shouldn't have to be involved in my messes."

Katara's brow folds. "What do you mean?"

He inhales deeply. "All of the chaos that's been occurring, that will occur in the future- it's dangerous."

She visibly stiffens. "Are you insinuating that I'm not able to take care of myself? Because I'm inclined to disagree."

His eyes widen, realizing his mistake. "No, not at all!" he holds his palms his in front of him. "I only mean that, uh… what I'm trying to say is…" he falters, then sighs. "You're my responsibility now."

Her eyes narrow into slits. "So?"

"You're… you're _you_ , Katara," he states. "If something were to happen to you here, especially if it's to protect me- Your family and Aang will never forgive me. The world will never forgive me."

Katara instantly shoots up from her seat, hands on her hips. "This isn't about my family, or Aang, or the world," she barks. "And by saying that, you are implying that my life is worth more than the other Kyoshi Warriors- my sworn comrades, my sworn _sisters_ \- just because of some silly titles people give me."

"Silly titles?" the Fire Lord sputters. "Katara-"

"I do not want favors from you, of any kind," she tells him quickly, but with force. "I ask that you treat me exactly as you do the other warriors."

Katara huffs, partly irritated by his implications, partly struck by her impassioned words in defense of the Kyoshi Warriors. She horribly stepped over the line, she knows. No one would dare speak to Fire Lord Zuko that way, as Suki has already advised multiple times. She begins to take her leave in order to calm her running emotions, and so she can hold her tongue before speaking something that may affront him.

"Katara," the Fire Lord calls after her.

The waterbender turns. "Yes, your Majesty?"

His expression drops into a frown. "Stop that."

"Stop what, my Lord?"

" _That_ ," he replies, jaw muscles working. "My subordinate or not, you are not a woman who should be showing deference to me, Katara."

"I'm afraid I must," she says. "Captain's orders."

He gets up from his seat as well, taking a step toward her. "Then we'll come to an agreement. No special treatment from me in exchange for no formal speech from you. No 'silly titles.' At the least, if there is a time when it is only us, I ask that you call me by my name," he says.

Katara ponders this. It's an easy exchange, as well as a tempting one. One that will not bode well with Suki.

But Katara can see the line between her and the Fire Lord, the one that as his inferior she is forbidden to cross. There is a side she must stay on. However, no one has told her where, on the correct side of that line, she has to stand.

So, Katara takes a step forward, toward Fire Lord Zuko, toward that uncrossable line that signals the difference between subordination and friendship. "I can agree to those terms."

He nods. "Good."

Behind her, Katara can hear shuffling past the kitchen entrance, where the palace is beginning to stir. "I should be getting back," she says, and he dips his chin in understanding.

She moves to leave, but, almost forgets something. Turning back to him for the last time, Katara takes the necessary measure to see the line that separates them once more. Behind it, she shuffles, imperceptibly stepping away the lightest, tiniest inch, as she gives him a lingering bow before heading back to the barracks.

* * *

A/N: A reader asked about story length, and I'll predict that, if my muse and outline cooperate, there will be somewhere between 25 and 29 chapters. So, buckle up, keep all limbs inside the vehicle, and enjoy the ride everyone!

Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

The tremor of a hand through the powder room mirror in the barracks causes Katara to halt. It isn't her own, which has just finished painting on her ink black brows, but one of the newer warriors like her. A girl she trained with, a woman she went through the warrior ceremony with.

Oblivious to Katara's gaze, her comrade joggles her head, seeming to will herself to shake off the nerves.

The waterbender looks away, past her reflection to the Kyoshi Warriors behind her, who all exhibit similar tells. One takes special care to make sure her armor is perfectly tight, her tunic properly smooth as her fingers tremble. Another attempts to lace her boots, but her leg shakes on its own accord, making a cause for re-lacing.

They are all flurries of tension, these warriors who are new to the palace, just like Katara herself, reminding the Water Tribe native of wintertime blizzards in her homeland.

They are earth, these warriors who are Kyoshi born and bred, and they had crumbled under Suki's early morning announcement:

"The Fire Council has called for a test of skills from the newest Kyoshi Warriors serving under the Fire Lord," their captain had stated after rousing them from sleep. "You will spar with Fire Lord Zuko himself. But," she said, setting her dark blue gaze on each of them separately, "remember that while you remain in service at the Royal Palace under my discretion, the Fire Council holds the power to remove whomever they deem unfit."

Like boulders split in half, her fellow warriors had been shaken to the core. But Katara is water, and though this obstacle has been laid in her path, she will rise up and find a way around it. She will adapt, because as she now looks around at her nervous comrades, Katara knows she has the most to lose.

…

When the doors to the arena open to allow the warrior to shuffle in, Katara has to blink back her surprise.

The former Agni Kai arena is just as immaculate as the waterbender has seen in pictures. When Fire Lord Zuko- no, just Zuko, now- took the throne, he had it turned into a personal training area. But with all that the world knows happened in this room many years ago- all of the disgrace, the fire, the pain- Katara wonders why Zuko didn't burn it to the ground.

The Fire Council, Zuko's cabinet of advisors, counselors, and significant nobles- sits in the first row of seats in the stands. The same stands where the most important citizens of the Fire Nation once witnessed former Fire Lord Ozai throw flames in the face of his son.

Zuko stands next to them, hands folded in front of his body, now clad in training clothes. Katara eyes only stay on him long enough to notice the golden diadem that doesn't match his more casual attire before she observes his council. There is no prevalent age among them, ranging from Zuko's age to middle aged to almost elderly, but they all have the same fierce, watchful demeanor that must be required of the people who work the closest with the ruler of the Fire Nation.

The warriors stand in a group across from the Fire Council, and when no more movements are made Katara expects Zuko to speak, but an older council member rises to say, "The first spar will be between Fire Lord Zuko and Ty Lee of the Fire Nation."

Without hesitation, Ty Lee moves onto the floor at the same time Zuko does, coming to stand opposite him. Katara's heart gains momentum as she realizes the seriousness of the situation. With no introductions, no words of encouragement, this will be her hardest test yet.

In traditional firebender fashion, Zuko would have signaled the start of the spar, but Katara is reminded of the fact that Ty Lee is also born of fire when the former acrobat breaks into a sprint toward the Fire Lord. Zuko stands his ground, holding flames in his palms. He throws them at her, but Ty Lee cartwheels out of the way and lands past him, feet planted and fans poised.

He kicks a blazing arch at her while she backflips to avoid it. Katara then watches as Ty Lee somersaults forward to engage in close combat. The fight plays on with Ty Lee using her gymnastic abilities to jump and flip her body around Zuko's attacks. Every time she lands it is with finesse, treating the spar like a performance, and when Katara takes a moment to look past the fight at the engaged Fire Council, the waterbender understands why.

Ty Lee and Zuko are evenly matched for many minutes, but Suki's second in command becomes predictable in her movements as she skirts around her opponent, and on an attempted flip over Zuko's head, he clips her arm, bringing Ty Lee to an unpolished land on the smooth floor. Zuko pounces, and with a fire dagger to her neck, Ty Lee yields.

As soon as Ty Lee leaves the floor, the next warrior is called, followed by another, and then the next. None lasts as long as Ty Lee did, and the council allows Zuko no breaks from fighting.

Katara finds herself the last to be tested, and there is a slight pause before her name is called. Zuko has motioned over a servant, gives an order then sends him away. A moment later, the member of the Fire Council says her name, and the waterbender doesn't miss his inquiring tone as he states, "Katara, of the Southern Water Tribe."

She understands the tremors and the spasms and the nerves as she steps onto the floor. Katara admits that the same fear and anxiety that plagues the other warriors also courses through her, but she knows her determination is just as strong.

Standing opposite of Zuko, Katara waits for him to take a fighting stance. However, he remains relaxed, and just as Katara's brow furrows in confusion the arena doors open. Six servants rush in, each carrying large basins, and Katara has to resist the gasp that threatens to escape when the water calls out to her in song.

The basins are placed around her, and Katara's heart races as she is unsure of how to explain herself and her situation to him, unsure of how to act when his gift renders her disappointed instead of grateful.

Thankfully, Suki steps forward. "My Lord, despite her waterbending capabilities, Katara now adheres to the Kyoshi Warrior creeds, and has traded her bending for her warrior status."

Pure shock passes over Zuko's face. Blinking slowly, he looks back and forth between Suki and Katara and the basins of water. He lets himself show incredulous puzzlement to Suki's words, and, Katara believes, there is disappointment weaved in as well.

"All right," is what he finally says, and Katara catches the ways his tone lacks conviction as they both slide into a fighting stance, palms burning and fans slicing open.

The Fire Lord launches forward, several blasts of flame spouting from his hands. Katara bats them away with her fans. Advancing, he fires more blasts, and Katara manages to block the first few before rolling out of the way of the rest.

Allowing herself a breath as Zuko paces toward her with a feral smirk, her eyes widen in realization at how familiar this fight already seems, how she has witnessed the exact set of movements from him- and herself- before; he is recreating their spar from the Northern Water Tribe.

In close proximity now, he comes at her with a flaming fist, but she sidesteps him with a fluid whirl. Zuko anticipates this, his arm shooting out to clip her abdomen but she counters with a solid block from her fan. Almost lightning fast, her other hand snakes out, fingers poised. She jabs him sharply in the crook of his elbow.

Katara moves away, keeping distance should he combust with anger or irritation at her chi blocking him. But Zuko chortles, holding his now limp arm.

"I see you've learned a few tricks," he says.

Spirits, he even remembered the dialogue from their spat in the north. Then, he had said those words with a mocking, bitter tone with just a hint of surprise that she had excelled in her bending progress; now, with his previous disappointment apparently dispelled, he tells it to her good-naturedly, as though he expects nothing less.

Katara gives him the moments to regain feeling, and also to sort the thoughts racing through her mind like arctic hares. How can he possibly remember their spar from six years ago? More importantly, why?

The only memory of that day that doesn't escape her is how it felt to watch Zuko's fingers- enemy fingers- grasp Aang's collar while the boy was in the Avatar state. Pure terror had washed through her under that shining sun at what Zuko might do, at Aang's safety being risked all because she failed to watch over him.

Then, in that grassy Spirit Oasis, her job had been to protect Aang. Her job now, Katara supposes at she surveys the watchful eyes of the Fire Council, is to protect herself. To safeguard her values, her beliefs. To show that she will be worthy of serving Fire Lord Zuko. To prove that she already is.

She had failed Aang then, but she will not fail herself now.

It is only a split second that her eyes linger on the filled water basins that sit discarded. It is also only for a split second that she contemplates doing something that would mean her removal from the Kyoshi Warriors. Something so, so tempting. But, it's long enough for Zuko to notice, long enough for him to say, "It's a shame that my servant's work won't be put to use."

Her brow folds into her forehead. Taunting her, is he? Trying to egg her on, trying to rile her up and make Katara use her bending.

She takes a quick swipe at him with her fan, moving away after he blocks it. "It is indeed," she replies with a frown.

His jaw twitches at her response. He must have expected her to cave, Katara realizes. But does he really expect her to throw away her position with just a simple taunt? Was it just to scratch at the persistent itch that comes with withholding her bending? Or is there some other reason for him to attempt to make her succumb to the thick, beating call of the water?

More forcefully now, he blasts enormous orbs of fire at her. Katara pushes the flames away with her fans, closing the distance between them now instead of being pushed back.

When she gets all too close, Zuko brings both hands together to create a gigantic blaze, but she is one step ahead. As he pushes the fire at her, Katara ducks low, shooting her arms out to find the pressure points on both of his legs. She hits them with lucky precision, and the Fire Lord gives an unceremonious yelp before crashing back on his numb lower half.

Breathing hard, Katara stands, thinking the fight to be over. Zuko's expression remains neutral if a tad surprised at his immobility. She thinks too soon, however, for his eyes ignite and with a wave of his hand an arch of flame sweeps low. The waterbender has no time to jump or move away in reaction, and the fire grabs onto the skirt of her tunic and begins to crawl up toward her torso.

A few shouts and gasps from the other warriors fill the air, but Katara moves quickly, using both fans to bat out the fire. Smoke still rises from her feet, but the fire is eventually put out, leaving charred fabric around the bottom of her skirt and up the side of her tunic in its wake.

She meets his eyes, and they both take a moment to assess each other, him with limbs as stagnant as a frozen lake, her with a burnt forest for a skirt. After a few breaths, Zuko nods. "A draw," he says.

Chin high and shoulders back, Katara strides past the Fire Council on her way back to the group of warriors. The Kyoshi Warriors surround her, spouting praises and exclamations of disbelief at her spar, but Katara pays no mind. She keeps her gaze on Zuko, biting her lips as he attempts to stand as the block on his chi begins to subside. The waterbender watches as he wobbles on his feet and shakes his head then begins a slow, hobbling walk over to his council.

What was she thinking? How could she have the mind incapacitate the Fire Lord in front of his council?

An arm wraps around her shoulders, pulling her toward the arena's exit. "That was good, Katara," comes Ty Lee's voice. "You did well."

Katara nods but still looks back at Zuko and his cabinet, the people who have the power to decide whether she leaves or whether she stays in the Fire Nation, and can't help but wonder if she has just made the decision for them.

…

Later, she lies on her cot in the barracks, her freshly scrubbed, makeup-free face staring at the gold molding of the ceiling. She hasn't seen Suki since her captain stepped into a meeting room with Zuko and his council, missing two practices, dinner, and nightly rounds. Katara can only wonder what this means for her comrades, and for herself.

Her answer comes moments later with a knock on the door to the bedroom. The captain herself steps through the entrance, rounding the other bunks to near Katara's. The bender sits up when she sees Suki, waits for her to speak when she comes to stand next to the cot.

The warrior takes in Katara's now wrinkled cot, her armor that hangs next to her bed on the wall, and the polished boots tucked under the bed frame. Her eyes linger on the singed fabric of the tunic that the bender wears. She is stalling. Katara sees this in her captain's perturbed demeanor.

Katara knows she will not be crushed under the weight of Suki's words, will not break into jagged chunks that can't be put back together. However, the obstacle in her path might just be too difficult to pass by, and she wonders if she will have to flow a different path when Suki says, "The Fire Council is questioning your fitness to serve the Fire Lord."

* * *

 **A/N: Happy March, everyone! Spring break is almost upon us, which luckily fuels my creativity, so here is another installment!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

It should not be this difficult to knock on his door. All Katara has to do it raise her arm slightly, rap her gloved knuckles on the polished wood, and let the reverberations signal her presence at the door to Zuko's study.

Had the waterbender come to the Fire Nation as an ambassador or even for just a friendly visit, Katara might have even bypassed knocking. Or, had she been at the palace as a regular employee, she wouldn't hesitate to attempt asking an audience with the Fire Lord. But Katara is neither, stuck somewhere in the middle, closed in by the lines thrust upon her, and the lines she draws herself.

Her arm wavers in the air. Katara makes a quick glance down both ends of the corridor. Even though she's on a mid-morning break from her duties, there is the possibility that a passing servant, guard, or even Kyoshi Warrior might see her at the Fire Lord's door and make assumptions.

Her mouth tastes bitter at the thought of the gossip surrounding her arrival at the Royal Palace escalating, but she knows that taking precautions is necessary when the palace dynamic is endlessly evolving.

Katara can still hear her response to Suki's news the night prior, the incredulous, tight tone of voice that lurched from her throat.

" _What_?"

Suki had bristled at the sound of the bender's response, but gathered herself a moment later. "You made a show of yourself."

"Because that's what was asked of me," Katara had said. "A test of skills. Showing the council what I can do. I proved that I can hold my own."

"No," Suki replied sharply, "you showed pride, and you showed stubbornness. You showed a willingness to put your desire to prove yourself above the Fire Lord's."

"What, then, was I just supposed to let him crush me in the fight?"

"If that was what it would have taken to show that you can be submissive and loyal then _yes,_ " Suki had told her. "You are not here as a delegate. You are a servant to Fire Lord Zuko's safety. You do not challenge him. You put him first, because that is your duty," her captain had finished breathlessly, and the amount of pure, raw passion in her voice had Katara wondering later what made Suki's dedications, and not just those to Zuko, run so deep.

The remembrance of Suki's words washes over her, filling her bones and muscles with a determination. Before she knows it, Katara is knocking on the door in front of her.

She hears a sigh, then a muffled, "Enter," reaches her ears. The waterbender turns the knob delicately, and she stands in the doorway for a few brief seconds before Zuko finally looks up from reading a scroll, his hand poised with a quill above it.

"Katara," the firebender nods, and his tone is all too weary for her liking.

"Your Majesty," Katara responds from her position not yet through the door. His expression drops slightly at her address, but the formality is necessary should the hall be home to any wandering ears.

"I'd like to request an audience with you, if you are not busy," she tells him.

"Not particularly," he states lowly, almost in a mutter, as his eyes travel back to the papers on his desk. "You may come in."

She steps forward, letting the door close behind her. As she waits for him, a piece of paper previously under his focus catches her gaze. It's a letter, she can see. At the bottom there appears to be no signature, just an intricately drawn symbol of a bird- a phoenix, she realizes.

Zuko pushes the letter away toward the rest of the stacks on his desk and turns to her fully. "So, what would you like to discuss?"

She clears her throat. "If it is proper to do so, I would like to speak with you about my… performance… of my skills for the council."

"Go on," he rests his hands in his lap.

"I'm sure you've heard of your council's uncertainty toward my position here."

His amber eyes darken, glinting like hard stones. "I have," he rasps. "And I would like to hear your opinion on it, first."

"Unfair," she blurts, and her face colors for it. "The Fire Council seems to be misled that I was being prideful and ostentatious in our spar instead of attempting to prove myself in front of them."

"And?"

"And they are wrong," Katara affirms. "I did exactly what was asked of me."

Zuko is thoughtful for a long moment, his gaze aimed pensively at her. He finally speaks, "I have heard the accounts you have stated from my cabinet."

Katara's heart begins a quick to sink to the floor.

"However," he pauses, "I'm inclined to disagree. We are evenly matched as fighters, but my advisors take anyone knocking me down, in malice or otherwise, as insubordination. They can make their decisions accordingly from what they witnessed, but my council forgets that any decision ultimately rests in my hands."

Her heart gains its bearings, dusts itself off.

"So, do not worry, because just this morning I informed them that you will be keeping your position as a Kyoshi Warrior in my palace."

Like a full moon, her heart rises, eager and ready.

"Thank you," she breathes.

"Of course," he coughs, hand coming to rub the back of his neck. "And even though you heard those things, my council really was quite impressed with you."

"Oh?"

"As was I," Zuko admits. "You put up a hard fight, especially without using your waterbending."

His tone has an edge to it, and Katara doesn't reply right away, only nods. "I have learned a lot under Suki and Ty Lee," she says.

Zuko's voice pounces in reply. "But you shouldn't have to, Katara. Making you give up your bending is cruel. Especially coming from a nonbender who could never have an idea what it would feel like."

"I agreed to it," Katara quickly defends. "I had to, if I wanted to be a Kyoshi Warrior."

"How come?" he presses. "Their history stems from a bender. An Avatar, no less."

"But the first formed group of Kyoshi Warriors were not benders," she informs him. "They were artisans, farmers. They were wives and they were mothers. They were ordinary women. I was asked to refrain from bending, and I will honor the request, just as I honor Kyoshi Warrior tradition."

Zuko looks at her for some time. "You're serious. About all of this. About everything."

Her gloved hands ball into fists. "Of course I am. Look at me," she enunciates slowly.

She watches as he takes her in- all of her. Tightly fastened armor and flowing tunic. Guarded forearms and gloved hands. Golden headdress on a nostalgic braid on her head. Tassels swinging in front of a snow-white face.

Zuko will only remember her hair and her eyes. He has not seen a single patch of skin, nor any hint of familiar blue garb. But, she wears her hair now the same way she had it when his ship landed on her tribe's patch of ice and snow, and her eyes are still the same blue he looked into when he threatened her grandmother while demanding to have Aang.

His own eyes respond for him when she meets them. They do not say, _I am_ , but, _I'm trying to_ , and it makes an unwelcome agitation pool in her stomach.

"Anyways," Zuko starts again, "I have silenced any rumors surrounding my council's uncertainty toward you, and to rest any lasting doubts I plan to speak to them about your qualifications-"

Katara shakes her head. "No, no. Don't do that. I need to prove my qualifications to them myself. No favors, remember?"

"It is hardly a favor," the firebender crosses his arms. "It is a necessity, because you are my friend."

"I am your subordinate," she counters.

Zuko's face contorts. "Not when it is just us. Remember our agreement?" He smiles lightly. "If you don't meet your stipulations then I plan to sing your praises throughout every palace wing."

"I haven't forgotten," Katara says.

"Then say it," he tells her, eyes twinkling lightly as if it is a challenge.

"I haven't forgotten the terms of our agreement, _Zuko,_ " she says to him.

He chuckles at her. "Good." After his voice finishes echoing in the room, his expression turns serious. "I meant what I said before, about talking to my advisors. There will be no animosity towards you from them. And I apologize if-"

Katara waves her hand, effectively cutting him off. "No apologies necessary, for anything. I suppose it's best that your council questions me, or any of the warriors here. They are trying to do the best for you."

Zuko snorts. "I know, and yet I've hardly given much in return. Except for recurring heart attacks, as the problems only increase with the length of my reign."

"How many?"

"How many what?"

"The number of...problems… that there has been for you."

Zuko sighs. "You're going to have to be more specific. Which is it? Palace breachings, assassination attempts, death threats by letter, death threats in person…" he drawls, listing them off.

"Direct attempts on your life," she clarifies.

"Twelve, in total."

Katara moves forward, "How many within the last six moons?"

He looks her way, not quite meeting her gaze, but beyond it. "Four."

The waterbender sucks in a breath. "Spirits," she whispers. "No wonder the Warriors were brought back to the palace."

Zuko nods soberly, and they share a silent moment. All the while, the gravity of all of this strikes a chord deep within her. Twelve times. Twelve times someone has tried to end Zuko's life. Peace isn't easy, Katara willingly admits, but knowing that there is a faction in his country that wishes his death must take a larger toll on Zuko than he lets show.

"You could have known all of this, Katara, had you not ceased our correspondence," he then tells her.

She isn't ready for this statement. "Excuse me?"

"You stopped writing me back," the firebender says simply. "The only one to do so. Even Toph manages to send me a crudely worded letter on occasion."

Katara doesn't deny it. It was around the time she decided to stay in her tribe after a few years of traveling with Aang. The change had brought her joy at first, but it became something else, something she hadn't expected, and soon Katara found herself sinking. The letters had begun to pile up. From Aang, from Toph. From people she had met from traveling during the war, from strangers she didn't know. And, from Zuko, a flame red seal carefully placed around the edge of a scroll made from expensive parchment. She never opened any of them.

Katara is about to say something- an apology, an explanation- but it doesn't get to pass through her lips as a knock sounds from behind her.

Zuko immediately fixes his posture, sitting up straight in his chair. "Enter," he calls.

The door opens and in walks Suki. Her gaze is aimed at Zuko, but when she sees the waterbender with him, she stops. "Oh. Katara. You're here."

Katara clears her throat instantly, ready to offer Suki an explanation so that her captain doesn't make any assumptions, but Zuko beats her to it.

"Katara and I were just speaking about our spar yesterday. I wanted to congratulate her on fighting well," he says. "Is there something urgent you'd like to speak with me about?"

"No, no," Suki responds, her eyes clearing as if clouded in a daze. "I just wanted to ask permission to bring the warriors into Caldera City and give a briefing on upcoming city patrols, as we previously discussed."

"Yes, good idea," he agrees. "I'll send for more guards while you and the rest of the warriors are out."

"Thank you, my Lord. We'll leave promptly," she says, bowing, then moving toward the door. "Katara," the captain calls, her purposeful tone making it clear that the waterbender should follow.

Katara turns to Zuko, bowing in the same fashion as Suki. "My Lord," she echoes, then leaves as Zuko dips his chin slowly, solemnly.

…

When leaving the palace grounds, the warriors are more lively than Katara has ever seen them. She, Ty Lee, and the two others that recently arrived from Kyoshi Island haven't been away from civilian life for too long, and thus are more sobered. But rest of their group don't hesitate to hide their animated, vibrant demeanors as they head for the city. Even Suki seems to bounce lightly in her steps.

Katara only saw glimpses of the great Royal Caldera City when she arrived as a Kyoshi Warrior, looming behind her as she walked up to the Royal Palace. During the war, she certainly had never taken the time to appreciate the city, and after it, much of Caldera had been destroyed by the immensity of Zuko and Azula's Agni Kai.

As the Kyoshi Warriors edge on the outskirts of the city, Katara marvels at the city's uniqueness. A majority of the buildings extend vertically, a more size-efficient design within the crater, and a lot of architecture crawls up the peaks that line the crater. Beauty surrounds every home in the form of lush flower gardens, thick, sweet-smelling grass, and sprawling trees. She hasn't even seen the heart of the city yet, but Katara is certain that Zuko played the largest role in the rebuilding this integral part of his homeland.

Most of the city is urban, though Katara is able to spot a few modest farms. Caldera City used to be strictly upper class before it was destroyed and subsequently rebuilt, a place where nobles owned their summer homes, where ambassadors were given places to reside during long summits.

With the reconstruction of the city, Zuko overturned the laws of his predecessors and opened it to all classes. Now, the wealthy did not look out their windows at the other wealthy, but at crop or flower farmers and at artisans. Nobles, middle class, and commoners, all existing together.

The group of warriors begins to pass more Fire Nation citizens on their way, a sure sign that the city center is in close proximity. People stare, but it's a different kind of look given than those the people of Kyoshi bestow upon their protectors. Residents of Royal Caldera City gaze upon Katara and the others curiously, their eyes holding uncertainty and, for some, distaste. A complete shift from the awed, reverential expressions of the natives of Kyoshi Island.

As Katara knows Sokka would say, even though they are in the Fire Nation, it will be a difficult mission to get the citizens of Caldera to warm up to them.

The heart of the city is overflowing. People selling and buying goods in market stalls and shops, families carrying out daily errands, friends gathering at the base of the central fountain to share news and enjoy traditional spicy snacks together. Past the tiered fountain, steps lead up to a smooth stone dais that extends to the entrance of a ceremonial building.

Suki halts the group on the edge of the plaza, saying, "Today I'll show you the parameters for daily patrol, a duty of all of ours that will be instated within the coming weeks. Although city patrol will always be performed in pairs, take care to memorize the route in detail. Remember," their captain pauses, her tone falling to a low hush, "we are not here to cause a sense of fear or panic. We are here to show the people of Caldera that we will protect them and their Fire Lord, as well as send a message to those who wish to do him, or the city, any harm."

The waterbender nods earnestly along with the rest of the group, but as they break away from the central plaza and turn down a street, Katara finds her concentration unintentionally waning. She knows the culprit; there is water nearby, and a lot of it. Looking past the city buildings, the bender spots a wide lake. Her skin prickles. Her blood simmers. She sweats lightly, and it isn't due to the warm spring day.

Katara shakes her head, tassels swinging violently at the sides of her head. She wills herself to move on, carry her thoughts away from the call of the water. She finds the perfect distraction in the sound of Suki's voice calling her name.

Her captain pauses in place, letting Ty Lee take the lead while waiting for Katara to reach her. When the bender does, the seasoned warrior takes to her stride, matching steps as they follow behind the group.

Katara gives her a curious look, and Suki responds, "I wanted to ask about your meeting with the Fire Lord this morning."

The bender tries her best to not let her expression wrinkle. "Before you ask, I followed protocol. It was not a social visit. I wanted to hear from him about the Fire Council's decision."

Suki seems taken aback at Katara's assumption that her caption will criticize her for the action, and by the light smile she gives, she appears to even find it comical. "Yes, that is all fine. However…"

Her words trail away as Katara's attention slips to something it deems more pressing. She notices the children. All around her, running through the streets, young and unkempt. Barefoot. Where are their parents? More importantly, why don't the residents of Caldera find this as odd as she does?

"Katara?"

Suki's voice brings her back from her thoughts. Katara blinks a few times. "You were saying?"

"What did Fire Lord Zuko have to say on the matter of the council's decision?"

For what she thinks may be the first time ever, Katara glances sidelong at Suki, her gaze hardened by deep suspicion. "He overruled it," she tentatively informs her captain.

What seems to be a relieved sigh may have escaped Suki hastily, but it is gone before Katara can analyze its meaning. "Are you… you don't seem at all affected by this," she says hesitantly.

"Should I be?" Suki questions.

Katara notices them lagging behind the group and lengthens her stride. "You tell me. You didn't seem too distraught when you relayed the news of the decision to me last night."

Suki sighs. "I'm not your enemy here, Katara."

"What?" the bender inhales sharply.

"I'm not your enemy," her captain focuses her gaze intently on Katara's. "I don't know when you'll realize it, so I guess it will be a wait for both of us."

Katara doesn't realize she stopped by walking until Suki is already many steps ahead of her. As she moves to catch up once again, the waterbender can't help but wonder:

If Suki claims she isn't the enemy here, then who is?

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

With training in the palace officially over, Katara easily slips into her place as an official part of Fire Lord Zuko's personal guard. She falls into routine with the grace of rain coming down from the sky, and with just as much eagerness. Her schedule is increasingly stricter, but Katara finds that her busy days and nights don't allow her mind to wander too far, to tread into thoughts, memories, and feelings she'd rather put aside at the present.

When it does wander, it is at times like this: positioned at the door inside the Royal Palace's extravagant dining room with a fellow Kyoshi Warrior, standing at attention while the Fire Lord dines on his midday meal.

Zuko's back is to her, and as he leans forward slightly while eating her mind digs through its memories to bring one specific image to light. She can almost shiver at the night breeze of the Western Air Temple, can hear the crackling fire lit by Zuko himself, tastes plain rice as it slides down her throat, burning, along with revolt and curiosity as she gazes at his head. The waterbender supposes now that instead of glaring ice daggers at a haughty prince, she looks at the Fire Lord she swears to protect with warm, yet alert eyes. Katara thinks the similarities end there, but then, as he pauses chewing his jaw turns ever so slightly and he looks at her from the corner of his eye. Again, she thinks, not a look meaning to kill, but just one that is aware.

Zuko turns back to his meal, waving over a servant to refill his water goblet. Her blood promptly sizzles as the servant rushes over. Thick, succulent drops of condensation fall down the ice-cold pitcher. Water rushes from the opening into the goblet like a waterfall, and her heart rate rises and she can barely breathe and, oh-

Breathe. _Breathe_. She finds a rhythm, not quick, but constant. In, and out. The call of the water eventually passes over her, and stasis returns.

Katara glances at the warrior on the other side of the double doors, at the servants and their eager hands, and at Zuko, dutifully picking apart his roasted komodo chicken.

Normal. Routine.

In, and out.

…

Ty Lee breaks into a full skip as she and Katara head across the barren pathway leading to the gate that opens into Caldera City. Just a few days after the Kyoshi Warriors ventured into the city as a group to learn the patrol route, she and Ty Lee are assigned together to carry out their first patrol in the city.

Starting in the afternoon, they will follow the route exactly, pausing if anything arises spontaneously, and pausing on purpose. To mingle, as Suki had said. Have conversations with anyone willing, and be friendly, but not too friendly. To instill an image of warm solidarity and fierce loyalty.

The central plaza is just as crowded as it was days earlier, if not more. Katara and Ty Lee move through the mass of people, stopping just on the edge of the square to survey the area. Satisfied at the uneventful scene before them, Ty Lee signals Katara to move on.

Diligently, they pass through the streets on their route. The layout of the city isn't predictable, but it does consist of sharp cut corners and precisely sized buildings.

Of course, the fact that almost all of the citizens of Caldera halt to pin curious gazes on Katara and Ty Lee gains the waterbender's attention. They stare openly, lingering on the golden fans tucked beneath their belts and at their white, impassive faces. These people look at Katara with such unexpectant eyes that the bender wonders if Zuko's people are aware of the seriousness of their city's growing turmoil. Has Zuko told his nation of the peril that grows from the unrest? Do they know that even though guard numbers in the city have increased and the Kyoshi Warriors have been called back to the Royal Palace that they must help protect themselves, protect each other, and protect their Fire Lord as well?

If they do, the citizens of Caldera do not show it. They glide easily through their city as they carry out their day. Local vendors shout out their various goods and sales, teenagers in school uniforms walk the streets in packs, and husbands kiss their wives before returning to work after a lunch break.

As they continue on the patrol route, Katara keeps an eye out for any show of rebellion, of discontent. She finds quite the opposite; every store, home, and city building are layered with various offerings of their devotion to the Fire Lord. Zuko's face is on every street corner and shop. Posters with words of blessings for their leader hang outside of homes. Vendors even sell mini statues and busts in Zuko's form.

The people of Caldera love Zuko- that much is blatantly evident. This fact makes Katara heart swell for him. After years of rebuilding his nation and himself after losing both, Zuko truly has a place where he belongs. A place where he is wanted and needed and revered for everything that he is and everything that he will be. The fullness in Katara's chest aches; if only she could be so lucky.

Seeing all that Zuko has accomplished, Katara knows it must be sustained at all costs. His years of work, of giving all of himself to his nation is something special, something precious. And for him, Katara knows that she will hold this fragile goodness that he has created in the palm of her hand and won't allow anything or anyone to destroy it.

No matter how good this city appears to be, Katara reminds herself that someone, somewhere, wants Zuko dead. She must be careful not to become complacent. She needs to protect herself and not get too wrapped up in the facade of Caldera City.

And the person or persons that attempt to harm Zuko's life must protect themselves, as well, for when Katara and the Kyoshi Warriors find them.

…

Katara and Ty Lee complete their patrol just a few hours before dusk, ending at the same plaza in which they started. The time spent patrolling the streets was uneventful, and Katara finds herself a tad disappointed at this. Not that she expected Caldera to be rife with crime, however. She had just imagined herself doing more than assisting an old man in trying to catch his beloved cat, which somehow had gotten itself stuck on a roof.

The waterbender had expected it to be, well… she isn't quite sure. Not like this.

Nevertheless, Katara prides herself on what she considers her first job well done, no matter how simple it was.

She and Ty Lee loiter in the square, watching as the nightlife already begins to flourish. As they spot a group of Royal Guards coming from the opposite street, Ty Lee breaks away from Katara, saying, "I'm going to go check in with them, then we can head back to the palace."

Katara nods. "I'll wait here."

As her comrade shuffles through the crowd, Katara idly surveys the plaza. The image of it has already been ingrained into her mind: the fountain full of coins carrying wishes and the ivory steps of the ceremonial building where lovers on a date share a snack. The jeweler's shop, the shoemaker's store, the many tailors of both traditional clothing and the latest couture. Fruit vendors and artisans and cheap trinkets for tourists and-

Katara's head cocks. Her eyes squint in the already setting sun, trying to make out a restaurant she hadn't noticed in the plaza before, but yet, one she remembers. One she went to six years before, when the war ended and everyone was still together and she thought her happiness would never fade.

The Jasmine Dragon sticks out almost comically in Caldera City with its rich green exterior and Earth Kingdom style architecture amongst the traditional colors and designs of the Fire Nation. Of course, it isn't the very building she visited the first time with Toph and found that Zuko had followed them to the Earth Kingdom, or the one where her friends had a gathering after the war, when she kissed Aang and finally, everything was right in the world.

Stepping from the side of the street to the middle, she peers closer at the restaurant. It's bustling, of course; anything made from Iroh's hand practically blooms. What success the Dragon of the West has had after the war, cultivating a prospering nation through mentoring his nephew in ascending the throne, then finally settling into the tea making business. Jasmine Dragons such as this one have popped up all over the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom.

Katara begins to wonder whether Iroh has thought about expanding his business to the Water Tribes when her legs are almost swept out from underneath her. The force of whatever came at her from behind knocks both the breath from her lungs and any thoughts about tea from her head. She whirls, prepared to take on her attacker.

The waterbender has to shift her gaze all the way to her feet in order to see that the perpetrator is merely a young boy. Wide brown eyes blinking in rapid succession meet her own. She takes him into account. He can't be more than six or seven years of age, and his greasy, shoulder-length black hair and ripped tunic are all too telling of a child without proper care.

"Hello," she calls down amiably. The force of running into Katara had knocked him onto his back, and the boy now sits up as he hears her speak to him. He looks afraid, and keeps glancing from her form to the street in which he came, body still and poised to move in any moment.

Yes, Katara decides, he is terrified. Not of her, she thinks. But of what?

A shout just down the road confirms it. The dirt-covered child scrambles to his shoeless feet, and to Katara's surprise he clings to her skirt, peering from behind the fabric to see whatever force that comes after him.

A red-faced man appears in Katara view. She watches as he spots her, and he glares furiously. Not at her of course, but at the child. She can barely make out his fit of shouts until he nears.

"Rotten, thieving child!" the man spits. "I should cut off your fingers so you can't steal from me anymore."

He lunged forward to grab the boy, but Katara pushes the child behind her, holding a gloved hand out to stop the man.

"What is the problem here, sir?" she says.

"Isn't it obvious?" he snarls. "That dirty street urchin and his unsavory friends are stealing my goods." His demeanor calms as he finally seems to notice Katara's uniform. "Of course, this is nothing for you to concern yourself with. Just a small matter," he tells her smoothly. "If you would just hand over the child to me, I can sort this out. I wouldn't want to trouble you."

Katara almost rolls her eyes. "It's no trouble at all," she responds. "We'll settle the matter right here."

She looks down at the boy. "Did you steal something of this man's?"

Still clinging to her, the child hesitantly shakes his head. "Liar!" screams the man, red-faced once more. "He stole ten of my apples!"

Katara gives him a hard look, which instantly quiets him, then turns back to the young boy. "Are you sure?" she presses him. The unkempt boy looks away for a fraction of a second, but Katara manages to follow his gaze to the street corner, where a group of other disheveled children looking to be younger than the boy stands in the shadows.

The bender looks to the boy once more, her gaze sweeping over his appearance, from his worried expression to his scuffed knees and finally to his full pockets, which Katara can see are overflowing with apples.

"I understand," she whispers to the boy, giving him a smile.

The bender straightens. "Name the total price of the produce, and I'll reimburse you for it," she tells the vendor. He responds with an amount, and though Katara thinks the price he names may be a bit extreme, she reaches into the pouch at her hips and pulls out the correct number of coins, just a small portion of the daily sum awarded to the Kyoshi Warriors, and gives them to him. Apparently satisfied, the vendor forgets about the child as he counts each coin, then offers her a brief nod before taking his leave.

"Now then," Katara sighs. "Why don't you tell me-"

She looks down, but the child is gone. She had barely felt him leave her side as she dealt with the angered fruit vendor. Katara scans the street corner where the other children had previously been, but they, too, have vanished.

Despite her growing concern for the boy and his friends, Katara smiles. That had felt right. It had felt important.

"There you are!" a voice exclaims, and soon Ty Lee bounces into view. When she looks at the waterbender fully, her expression is one of surprise. "Katara," she chirps, "you're looking green again."

It takes Katara a moment to remind herself that Ty Lee means her aura color instead of a noticeable sickness.

She only hums in response. "Ty Lee," she then begins, "Does Iroh run the city's Jasmine Dragon himself? I'd love to see him again if it's possible."

"He does," her comrade replies. "However, right now he unfortunately is on one of the Fire Nation Islands dealing with an, uh, personal matter," Ty Lee informs her.

Katara's forehead wrinkles. "He's not ill, is he?"

Ty Lee grins, waving a hand. "Oh, no. Nothing like that," the former acrobat says. "Would you still like to go stop in? Have some tea before we go back?"

"I'd like that," Katara affirms, and together they walk the short distance to the entrance of the Jasmine Dragon.

The outside of this specific tea house isn't as exquisite as the original in the Earth Kingdom, but the interior is just as Katara remembers it. The same brown square tables and matching chairs are filled with guests while natural lighting shines down on the immaculate green and gold rug depicting dragons.

The hostess begins to ask for their party number, but Ty Lee inhales the loudest gasp Katara thinks she's ever heard and exclaims, "Mai!"

Katara freezes as the name coming from Ty Lee so animatedly washes over her. Ty Lee passes by the hostess, moving through the rows of tables. As people part, Katara finally sees her.

Mai sits in the corner by herself next to a window with the curtain pulled over. A half cup of tea and a partially eaten fruit tart are placed neatly in front of her. It's been a few years since Katara has seen her, let alone spoken with her, but Mai is just as Katara remembers. Beautiful porcelain skin, aristocratic features, and sharp tawny eyes framed by glossy onyx locks.

As she and Ty Lee near, Katara notices the sincere smile poised on Mai's thin lips. She isn't as exuberant as Ty Lee for this reunion, but as the other warrior takes a seat without invitation it is clear that their friendship is still something dear to both of them.

"How are you, Mai? It's been such a long time since I've been home- I'm so excited!" Ty Lee begins to chatter. "I can't wait to catch up. A lot has been going on around here, apparently, and I-"

"Ty Lee," Mai's cool voice cuts through her friend's babbling. "It's a nice surprise seeing that you're back. I'm glad."

Despite the flat, motionless tone of her voice, Katara can see from Mai's expression that her words are completely true.

"It's also surprising that Zuko called the Warriors back to serve at the palace himself," Mai says, "considering I had to be the one to take measures to protect him last time."

"Oh, Mai, don't hold it against him," Ty Lee sighs. "At least you taught him that it'll take more than his own firebending to protect himself."

Katara can't help the snort that unceremoniously escapes her. She doesn't think she can believe Ty Lee's previous statement, for the waterbender is pretty sure that Zuko would have to lose his own bending permanently and break his dual broadswords before he let someone else fight for him.

The action brought the attention of the table to her, and by the narrowing of Mai's eyes, Katara knows that the Fire Nation noble is finally acknowledging her presence.

Of course, Mai would have noticed both women as soon as they walked through the door, and perhaps not acknowledging Katara was Mai's way of making it clear where she and Katara stood. They were never really friends, never spoke with more depth than taunts during the war or simple pleasantries after it.

"I'm sorry," Mai says to Katara. "Who are you?"

Whatever words Katara had planned in response to what she thought Mai would say to her comes out of her throat in a strangled cough. As she looks into Mai's tawny eyes, the bender can see that she is completely serious. Mai has no clue of Katara's identity.

Ty Lee speaks while Katara tries to find any words, "You know her, Mai! It's Katara."

The waterbender can't find it in her to look away from Mai's gaze as it pins her down, as it scrutinizes every inch of her. She's looking for a clue, Katara realizes. And the only one she finds is in Katara eyes.

Whatever Mai sees in Katara's gaze, however, she clearly doesn't like. The bender can feel the air as it shifts. Beside her, Ty Lee tenses, most likely from the rapidly shifting auras. While Katara knows hers is one of clear confusion, she sees in Mai's eyes a hurricane brewing.

"Hello, Mai," Katara breaks the silent tension. "I trust you've been well."

"And I you," Mai replies, her lips barely parting, jaw hardly slacking to form the words.

Silence hangs over them once more, and thankfully Ty Lee grabs it from the air as she says, "I'm going to order some tea. You want any, Katara?"

The waterbender finally pries her eyes away from Mai's, turning to her comrade who has waved over a waiter. "I'll have a cup of jasmine," Katara exhales.

Ty Lee hums. "Make that two. Thank you!" she calls as the server goes to put the order in.

"So, Mai," Ty Lee begins. "How's your family? Oh, and tell me about Tom-Tom! He's got to be how old now?"

Mai visibly perks at the mention of her younger brother. "He's eight."

Ty Lee prattles on, talking about Mai's family and her own. Katara mentally takes herself from the conversation and opens her mind to the more pressing thoughts she has. Most specifically, how Mai hadn't recognized her at all. The satisfaction slowly drips through her veins as she recalls what would even be considered astonishment from Mai when Ty Lee said Katara's name.

Katara knows she is unrecognizable. The reactions from both Mai and Zuko tell her as much. The only person to notice her identity, of course, was Suki, but that is warranted in the fact that Suki has spent a long time looking into Sokka's identical eyes.

Still. She hadn't been recognized. And the way Ty Lee introduced her was completely perfect. No "Master Katara's." No "War Hero" or "The Avatar's Waterbender."

She is finally Katara. Simply Katara.

Their tea arrives, and Ty Lee is still talking. Katara sips it, delightful and delicious as only Iroh can create.

Mai seems lighter as she and Ty Lee speak, but every time Katara casts even the slightest glance her way, the noblewoman seems to know and meets it with thunder behind her eyes.

It's puzzling her, and she is certain that the shifting moods is exhausting for Ty Lee as the aura reader is the first to begin goodbyes once the tea has been finished and paid for.

"It's been amazing catching up with you, Mai, but Katara and I have got to get back to the palace," she says as she stands. "We definitely need to do this again, though! Don't be a stranger. Come visit me in the palace whenever. I mean it!"

As she and Mai hug, the noblewoman only replies with a staccatoed "We'll see."

Katara and Mai exchange only the briefest of nods before the Warriors leave the Jasmine Dragon.

The setting sun follows behind the two Kyoshi Warriors as they make their way through the opened gate of the palace walls. Ty Lee doesn't bounce like before, with her steps being more measured, more thoughtful.

Katara supposes that she, too, is doing the same. But while she can only imagine that Ty Lee is thinking about her conversation with Mai, wading through all of the nostalgia and reminiscing, Katara thinks only of names; of their power, of their weakness.

She thinks of her own, divinely simple as it passed through Ty Lee's lips. She thinks of the young boy, one moment clinging to her and the next gone, whose name she was about to ask for and never received. But mostly, she thinks of the crashing waters and the unapologetic tsunami she saw in Mai's eyes when the noblewoman was reintroduced to Katara's own name.

* * *

 **A/N: Happy Father's Day! I hope everyone's day has been filled with love and many, many dad jokes.**

 **I do apologize for the slow update- graduation season latched its celebratory claws onto me and wouldn't let go.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

Not one, but two storms come Katara's way in the days after her first patrol in Caldera City.

The first is a celebration for the entirety of the Royal Palace and Caldera. The rainy season that accompanies spring in the Fire Nation finally decides to show itself, gifting the people with its first rainfall.

Katara travels back to the barracks from breakfast when what she can only describe as a spark reverberates throughout the palace. Servants and guards move briskly about, hurrying through the halls to gather at the many open courtyards.

She smells the rain before she sees or hears it. Light and sweet, the rain drips from the sky slowly. Katara paces to one of the open training arenas, where two other Kyoshi Warriors, a group of Royal Guards, and a few servants have paused for a break to watch the rain.

For a waterbender, the water's call can differ depending on its form. Oceans and lakes can feel like suffocation; ice that is close to melting feels like longing.

Rainfall has a sharpness to it. Each drop is like a small pin prick on her skin. It pokes and prods the flesh as if it desires to seep through.

The rain comes down much more forcefully now, a storm is in want of attention. The droplets move into each other, creating puddles on the smooth stone ground.

She would think that at the first clap of thunder, everyone would move away from the open air and get back to their duties. To Katara's surprise, the servants step out from beneath the covering held up by thick columns that provide shelter.

She watches as they marvel at the weather, arms outstretched as if to entice the rain to them. Now completely soaked, they laugh at themselves, at each other. They sing praises to Agni for this gift.

Pretty soon, the guards and the other Kyoshi Warriors join the servants in the storm, leaving Katara the only one still under the shelter.

The waterbender is aware of the irony in her hesitation to join them. She holds an arm out, let the storm soak her glove, her wrist guard, her sleeve. It soaks through the light fabric, becoming slick on her skin. Slowly, Katara steps into the rain.

She gasps as the cool wetness of the rain mixes with the muggy air against her flesh. The droplets hit her face as she turns it up to the gray sky, becoming tiny needles against her forehead, cheeks, chin.

It takes mere seconds for Katara to become drenched. Her sopping skirts cling to her legs, and she shivers.

Katara smiles, wide and real. She laughs while the rain fills her mouth. She gulps it down as if it is fresh air.

A thought crosses her mind, something Ty Lee mentioned what seems like so long ago. Katara takes a gloved finger, runs it down her cheek then examines it. Spotless. Not a trace of the white makeup covering her entire face. She laughs again.

Though the rain pelts down, blurring her vision, Katara can see the others as they dance to storm's rhythm. They continue to cry out prayers, thanking the Spirits for the offering that will grow the farmer's crops, that will end the stifling winter drought.

Katara's shivers last longer, become more intense. She'll go back into the palace soon enough to dry off, to begin her next duty and continue her day. For now, she will stay. All the while her skin prickles and her hands ache because the water is everywhere. But at least she can be here, like this, for just a little longer.

This, too, she supposes, is a gift.

…

The second storm is one that comes just as unexpectedly, but with tenfold the amount of force.

Katara feels it brewing as she stands guard at the door outside of the Royal Suite. Again, it's this feeling. One that rumbles through the hall, bouncing off of walls, coming at Katara like a gust of wind.

The Royal Suite is fairly secluded; its wide, double doors sit at the end of a long hallway that contain more entrances to bedrooms reserved for the Fire Lord's immediate family and anyone directly in line for the throne.

For all the time that Katara stands guard at Zuko's door, the hall is quiet. Melancholically, Katara notes that he is all alone here. The last family member that would reside in these rooms is Iroh, and the former general ceased his permanent stay in the Royal Palace long ago.

It must be lonely, Katara thinks. It's the worst kind of loneliness, too; being home, and feeling alone at the one place nobody ever should. Her heart thumps in her chest, as Katara is all too familiar with this kind.

When the air in the hallway changes, growing tighter, Katara's heart begins to thump for a different reason. The entire atmosphere shifts; Katara's feels it deep within herself, and by the rustling of the other Kyoshi Warrior positioned at Zuko's door, the waterbender is sure that her comrade feels it as well.

The hall that is adjacent to the one housing the bedrooms for the Royal Family is the only source of activity. Every so often a servant or guard passes by, sometimes sparing a glance down Katara's way. And as Katara senses this tempest coming her way, she sees the most peculiar thing occur.

A servant passing by the hall instantly freezes when she notices something Katara's can't see. The servant's face is one of pure terror, and she almost drops the pile of fabrics she is carrying. A second later, she turns on her heel and scurries back the way she came.

Katara glances at her comrade, wondering if the other warrior saw the same thing. She almost opens her mouth to speak, but she stops when that senses that feeling again, one of danger and threat, the strongest she's felt it.

She casts her view back to the hall, and what she sees causes her throat to tie in a knot.

The storm has arrived.

And it comes in the form of a woman that Katara had only seen and spoke to a little while ago. With black skirts flying behind her, Mai stalks intently toward Zuko's door.

Katara turns to her comrade again, who now notices the activity taking over the quiet hallway. The other warrior's mouth is open, as if a silent, petrified gasp is slowly leaving her.

The waterbender can only watch as Mai completely disregards both of the warriors standing at the door, pushing past them and through the entrance to the bedroom chamber.

The doors to the suite slam shut, making the walls shake and causing the warriors on guard to flinch.

Then- all is quiet.

Time hasn't passed this slowly for Katara in so long. No sound can be heard from inside the Royal Suite, where surely a warlike confrontation is occurring between the Fire Lord and his former girlfriend.

 _Why? Why? Why?_ Her curiosity prods and pokes at her intuition. Why is Mai here? Why now? Katara can't assume outright that the noblewoman isn't a regular sight in the Royal Palace, but in the time that she has been here there has been not a single trace of her.

The way in which Mai came also travels through Katara's mind. It sets itself up in a tangled web around her brain, demanding that Katara undo all the knots until there is a clear cause and effect.

Clearly, Mai is not in the best of moods. Not that she usually is, but the energy that comes from the woman is darker than her usual air of indifference.

Five minutes pass. The ten. No one has come out of the Royal Suite, and no one has gone in. Katara occasionally exchanges anxious glances with the other Kyoshi Warrior, but other than that, everything is as it was before Mai stormed into the palace.

Except that it's not. Katara can't will herself to turn her awareness away from what is happening inside that room to focus on her duty. What are they saying? What can Zuko possibly be feeling? What happens after it ends?

Her nosiness has always been one of her least favorite characteristics, but Katara can hardly help it; this is a way for her to care for others, and to show them that she cares, as well.

Only one of the doors to the suite opens. Katara's head swivels. A good chunk of the room is visible, but most of it is blocked by Mai's body, turned away from the entrance and toward Zuko. A single hand holds the door open in a white-knuckled grasp. The conversation is audible, now, and Katara isn't sure whether this is a blessing or a curse to her curiosity.

"Do what you will, Zuko," Mai says tightly. "But now you know my feelings. They, at least, deserve your consideration."

Katara can't see Zuko's expression, and she doesn't even think she can imagine it as she hears him say, "Goodbye, Mai," in a voice that is equal parts exhausted and vexed.

At his dismissal, Mai turns on her heel sharply. Unfortunately for Katara, she isn't fast enough to pivot back to her stance. Mai looks distressed as she is met with the view of an eavesdropping Kyoshi Warrior, but her expression morphs entirely when she realizes that the Kyoshi Warrior is Katara.

Katara has had many nasty glares flung her way in her lifetime. Icy ones from Master Pakku during her training in the North Pole. Firey ones, such as Azula's when the waterbender had chained her down. Joking ones from her brother whenever he was unassumingly assaulted by a snowball.

But this look from Mai- it shakes Katara to her core. Rage and bitterness and desperation and sadness. It is an explanation. It is an accusation.

Katara always had an inkling that the brooding, impassive woman hides another side of herself within her depths. And this look upon Mai's face proves that Katara is a reason that these parts of Mai are coming to light.

 _Why? Why?_ Katara shoves the thoughts away as Mai takes her chilling eyes away from Katara's and shoulders past her, leaving the door to the suite slightly ajar as she leaves the hallway with an ambiguous air and silent, measured steps. Despite herself, the bender peeks into the room. There she finds Zuko, alone, one hand raking through his hair and the other pouring himself a generous glass of what Katara can only guess is hard liquor.

He spots her gazing inside. "Please close the door." His eyes don't meet hers as he says it.

Katara swiftly complies. She goes back to her post, sparing a look at her shaken comrade before returning her focus to the now stagnant hallway and her own racing thoughts.

There's a reason Mai came to visit Zuko. Katara's brain is incorrigible, demanding she put the pieces together, to find the reason.

She shushes her internal thoughts, her queries, her guesses. She is becoming tired of their pervasive persistence.

 _Why?_ Her mind asks one last trying time, but Katara feels no need to respond any longer; not when her heart already knows.

…

Images of blue find Katara that night.

This is not the same blue she has grown up with, however. Compared to the calming colors of her childhood, this is something burning, something sinister.

Those pale fingers with razor-like nails appear, pointed upward. For a moment, they pause, seeming to consider Katara while electric blue air fills her surroundings. The waterbender's heart slams against her ribs.

To her surprise, the hand passes over Katara, finding a new possible victim. There's someone else here.

Where is here? She looks around, finding herself surrounded by massive columns and a burning wall of fire. The throne room.

The identity of the other person is foggy; she can see they are dressed in simple red clothing.

The air sizzles, and Katara turns back to hand that holds the crackling blue orb. It grows larger, demanding attention, for it apparently has chosen a target.

Before another breath can leave her chest, streaks of cerulean lightning fly toward Katara. She can only stand frozen in wait. Then, there is a voice.

She has enough time to turn- the lightning seems to be taking its time getting to her- and finds that the foggy visage has become the terrified face of Fire Lord Zuko.

He runs to her. No, at her. _No_ , in front of her.

The lightning strikes him, and Katara screams.

He was just in front of her, but now looks so far away as he lies on the marble floor of the throne room, seizing as the lightning wraps around his body.

Katara goes to him. She'll heal him.

She's at his side. Her hands go to her waist. Where is her water skin? She searches the room; no water is to be found.

The helpless waterbender turns back to Zuko. His breath is waning, his eyes are fading.

She'll save him. She's going to save him.

She has to. She must.

She can't. She can't-

Katara wakes, gasping. She lays in her cot, unmoving except for the tears sliding down the sides of her face. She lets them wet her hair, her pillow.

She breathes shakily.

Telling herself that it is just a dream is ridiculous. She can't just put it aside, not when it is based on reality, on a memory.

A memory that plagues her every day. A memory that now feels the need to steal Katara's nights as well.

This is the second time it has been so vivid, however. This night, as well as the first night she had the dream- or nightmare. In between, the waterbender has only seen flashes of the memory in her dreams. Flashes of blue. Flashes of a pale hand. Flashes of the face of a boy writhing in agony on the ground because of her.

No, it cannot be put aside. No matter how unreal the dream is, there was still the possibility that it could have happened all those years ago. All because of Katara, who stupidly, recklessly, agreed to take on a fight with the crazy, blood lustful Azula. Because of her, Zuko's life was jeopardized.

And now, it seems that Katara's mind is telling her that he could be at risk again.

She desperately wants to console herself, tell her worried conscious that the battle on the eve of the war's end was many years in the past. A dream, she wants to whisper to her frightened, thumping heart. It is a dream.

But Katara cannot, for she would need extra fingers to be able to count on her hands the number of times that, since stumbling upon a boy in an iceberg, her dreams have become reality.

…

Unsurprisingly, Katara ends up in the same place as the first time she woke up tasting the bitter remnants of that awful, chilling nightmare.

This time, she comes to the kitchens around midnight. The sconces near the entrance have been snuffed out, leaving Katara to blindly stumble in the dark until she finds the kitchen's doors.

With the moonlight now creeping in through the high windows, Katara would have headed straight for the pantry, except that the light illuminates the figure sitting at the counter some twenty paces ahead of her.

There is no hesitation this time when she moves toward Zuko; they're definitely past that awkward reunion stage. But where they are now, Katara isn't sure. Comfortable? Perhaps. Close? Not like they used to be.

As she nears, Katara can identity the bottle of firewhiskey that sits on the counter at Zuko's side, accompanied by the half-full glass his hand is wrapped around.

The firebender considers her. "We've got to stop meeting like this," he says dryly, but pats the stool next to him as an invitation anyway.

"Are you an alcoholic now?" Katara steps up onto the seat.

His eyebrow raises. "Excuse me?"

"Well, there's this," she gestures to his situation, drinking alone while hidden in the kitchens at midnight. "And I also saw you after… after Mai left," she finishes.

Zuko snickers. "You know, sometimes, I wish. It would be easier to drink myself dumb than deal with all this...all this _shit_." He motions outwards, as if whatever it was lay in front of him.

Katara bristles at his tone. He notices.

With a sigh, Zuko's shoulders droop. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little...irritated at the moment."

Katara blinks at his admission. From her experience, it usually takes some heavy coaxing for Zuko to spell out what he's feeling.

Whatever perturbs the Fire Lord at the moment, she can see that it has struck him deeply. "Do you want to talk about it?" she gently asks.

"It's nothing you probably haven't already guessed."

"Mai?" she inquires.

"Mai," he affirms.

"Did you have a fight? When she came to your room?"

Zuko takes a short sip of his drink. "We always fight."

Katara's nose wrinkles. She dislikes when he resorts to these clipped, vague answers.

"So what is it?" she presses.

He takes a long pause, seeming to gather his thoughts, before saying, "She wants… to be back. In the palace, in my life…"

Zuko lets the words trail off before starting again. "She was the angriest I've seen in a long time. Angry at me for not telling her that I brought the Kyoshi Warriors to the palace, angry at me for, and I quote, thinking that I could hire anyone, even a _waterbender_ , that could do a better job at protecting me than herself."

Katara almost chokes on the air passing through her as she hears that Mai mentioned her to Zuko. And with this knowledge, her suspicions are found to be correct; Mai came to talk to Zuko because of Katara.

With her thoughts reeling, Katara manages to still ask him another question. "And... do you want her back? Do you still love her?" She tries to ignore the way the words sting within her mouth to focus on his answer.

Zuko turns to her with a serious expression but glinting eyes. "I told Lady Mai that she is welcome in my palace any time, only as a friend of the Fire Lord."

A small spark of something that feels like approval or even gladness ignites in her chest. Katara stamps it out before it can grow. "And she didn't take that very well," Katara concludes.

A snort escapes him. "No, she didn't. And neither will her father," Zuko comments darkly.

Katara's eyes narrow. "What does that mean?"

"It means," he fingers his glass, gaze unfocused ahead of him, "I may have just helped a few Ozai supporters turn their scrappy society into an uprising."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm a little (read: a lot) self-conscious about this chapter, so yeah. I'll leave it at that.**

 **Part 2 of this last conversation will be found in the next chapter, which will include some explanations and happenings that will make us venture deeper into the ~danger zone~.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

Katara's mouth goes painfully dry at his words. An uprising?

"But how?" she prods him. "What do Mai and her father have to do with it?"

"Ukano and I have an understanding." Zuko's jaw tenses. "Or, we had one, at least. I endorse his ongoing campaign as a governor, and he keeps all dealings with usurpers and rebels at bay."

"How does Mai play into it?"

Zuko's eyes hold an emotion that Katara can't place as he replies, "In order to keep the agreement, he wants Mai to become Fire Lady."

Pushing away the barrage of images that come to mind in which Mai stands at his side in full ceremonial garb with the Fire Lady's diadem gleaming in her hair, Katara comments, "I thought the Ozai supporters faded away years ago, when the Kyoshi Warriors were called here the first time."

"They did," the firebender tells her, "but only after Ukano gave me that ultimatum, and I had no recourse."

"So, he's blackmailing you?" An abrupt anger rises up in Katara. Her hands curl into fists under the countertop. "That's treason!"

Zuko's eyes snap to her face with intensity. "You don't think I know that?"

"But couldn't you have-"

"I was stuck." Katara flinches as his voice raises over hers. "There was nothing I could do."

After a pause, Zuko sinks into his seat. "None of it matters anyone. That's in the past. But now, I've created a future where my nation, my city, my palace, are all in danger."

"But you don't have to face it alone," Katara says. "You can't protect everyone by yourself. Your entire staff of guards and the Kyoshi Warriors are right behind you."

He looks forward with blank, glassy eyes. "But who's going to save them? Who's going to save you?"

Katara shifts in her seat, brow furrowing. She knows there's no answer that will appease him. She doesn't even know if there's an answer that will appease herself.

"That is not your concern," she replies. "The Royal Guard, the Kyoshi Warriors - we are here to serve you. Not the other way around," the waterbender says slowly. "If you're making a list of everyone who is in danger here, you must put your name at the top. Your protection is everyone's protection- your palace, your city, and your nation."

Katara is taken aback when Zuko lets out a short, shrill laugh. "You sound like Uncle. In fact, talking to you is almost like talking to him."

"Oh? In what way?"

"You listen," he says simply. "The one time you didn't was when you threatened to kill me at the Western Air Temple," he says, his tone almost sounding fond of the memory.

With the mood of their conversation lifting, Katara laughs. "Oh, I was so furious! Even though you had chased us around the world, you were the last person I expected to show up."

He smirks lightly, gaze taking a moment to travel over her Kyoshi Warrior uniform like it always seems to. "Interesting, how the tables turn."

She thinks of his reaction to finding her in his palace and the many similarities it had to her own all those years ago, and agrees. "It is. But is it good or bad this time?" The question pries its way out of her mouth before she can close it.

His lips curl at the inquiry. "You tell me. What was it back then?"

Katara's honesty controls her words. "Definitely bad, at first. But then better. Absolutely better," she adds, but doesn't know why.

"Well, we'll have to see how it goes this time around. However, history does have a knack for repeating itself," he tells her, a slow smile creeping into his expression.

Is her face warm? Why is her face warm?

Katara hums in agreement. "That it does."

…

Katara will reluctantly admit she has never been the person with all of the ideas. Sokka has always fulfilled this role, during the war and after. He created and refined many of their plans while traveling with Aang, and became one of the head engineers in charge of rebuilding the Southern Water Tribe after the war's end.

The waterbender is always amazed by her brother's capacity for thinking- she imagines his brain as some intricate machine, always spinning and generating ideas. Sokka may be a master swordsman, but Katara believes his mind has always been his truest and fiercest weapon.

Which is why Katara's own idea excites her. It had come to her in the same way a snowstorm takes over her homeland, slowly, and then all at once. This, she knows, _feels_ , deep within her is something that will fulfill her need to help other people, to change their lives for the better.

The most frightening aspect of her idea, however, is not in its execution. Sokka once told her that there is a tricky spot between an idea's birth and its manifestation, a period of nurturing and reflection that one might not be able to do all on their own.

And, the only person who can help her currently turns the corner of one of his many hallways in his palace, trailed by a couple of his many advisors.

The Fire Lord has just come from his routine midday meetings, not looking especially impassioned as his advisors attempt to catch up to his quick pace with a flurry of questions. Katara and another Kyoshi Warrior always pass him at this time as they go about their palace rounds.

The waterbender legs buckle slightly at the thought of interrupting Zuko publicly, particularly in front of members of his cabinet, but she is bursting with thoughts and plans that need him, ones that Zuko might come to see he needs as well.

As her party and his grow nearer, Katara waves off her comrade, gesturing for the warrior to continue on. Her steps slow as her heartbeat quickens until she is at Zuko's side, and before his gaze can meet hers, the gilded tassels on her headdress dip along with her chin as she addresses him. "Your Majesty," she keeps her bowed position, eyes trained on his impeccably polished boots. "May I have a word?"

"You may," is his authoritative reply, though hints of curiosity slip through. The Fire Lord turns to his advisors. "If you'll excuse me," he says to them, and they bow in return as echoes of "Of course, My Lord" ring throughout the hallway.

Zuko guides Katara away from his entourage, giving their conversation some privacy. Or maybe he simply wants a reprieve from the men from his cabinet. His eyes are all too exasperated and weary, a sluggish amber instead of solid, shining gold.

"If this is a bad time…" Katara starts, gesturing to his advisors who have already begun to tap their pointed boots in impatience.

"No."His reply resembles a sharp stab of lightning. "No, it's not," Zuko says again, this time a bit softer. His gaze searches her face. "What's on your mind?"

Katara hardly notices her fidgeting until the muscles of her hands become sore from curling her fingers into her fist and releasing them multiple times. "Well, if you recall, Ty Lee and I went out on patrol last week, and…" she pauses. Oh, how shall she put this? How can she explain the excitement, the hope that soars in circles above her chest and preys on her heart? Or how to tell him about the past few nights, about not being able to sleep because when thoughts turn into plans they require every ounce of her energy, every ounce of her soul.

"Yes, I remember," Zuko responds, brow quirked, seemingly trying to find out where she is going with this.

"When Ty Lee and I were there, we… well, I-"

She gets cut off by one of his advisors calling out "My Lord?" and waving the documents in his hand.

The waterbender wants to thread her fingers through every bit of hair she has and pull. Why is this so hard to say? Is it the excitement of the possibilities? The fear that he will reject her idea, will laugh or scoff at it and turn her away?

Zuko, of course, notices her inability to explain herself. He steps closer. "What is it? What do you want to tell me?"

Katara lets out a breath, a better explanation forming in her mind. "It might be better if I show you."

…

Zuko's advisors were furious that he dismissed them as soon as Katara had told him what she needed to show him. They even awarded her with a few glares as they stomped away while taking their leave.

As the afternoon sun beats down on her now, Katara wonders just why Zuko was so quick to approve of her suggested outing to Caldera City. He had asked no questions, hardly even reacting, only ordered for a group of guards to escort him into the city.

Creating distance between themselves and the safety of the palace walls, Zuko, Katara, and the guards make their way into the city. People begin to stare, and rightfully so. The waterbender suspects it isn't every day that their Fire Lord strolls into Caldera City flanked by almost a dozen guards. And one Kyoshi Warrior, of course.

She keeps pace behind Zuko and to the side of him. He doesn't engage in any conversation and his expression remains vaguely emotionless, but Katara doesn't find him stiff or cold. Authority can be a thick and powerful aura, and Katara doesn't need Ty Lee's extrasensory perception to feel it shroud the entourage.

Nearing the city's plaza, more people begin to crowd. Caldera's citizens bow as soon as Zuko passes them, and he regards them with a slight dip of his chin. With his shoulders back and gaze pointed determinedly at the path ahead of him, Zuko is man who knows that this city and its people are unequivocally his.

He stops near the tiered fountain, gaze sweeping the area. A few drops from the fountain's spout land on her cheek with a shift of the wind, and she almost hisses at the contact of water against her skin. As Katara collects herself and quickly wipes the water from her cheek, Zuko turns to her.

"Lead the way," he gestures to his city.

It takes her a moment to picture where she wants to go, scouring through the mental map in her mind of wide bustling streets and small alleyways.

"That way," she points ahead at in intersection.

As the group begins to move, Zuko falls into step behind her a bit, letting Katara take the lead. While they walk, Katara can't help but the notice the reverence shining in every person's face as they watch their Fire Lord.

After a few minutes, Zuko comes to match her pace at her side. She glances at him and is surprised to find a small smile clinging to his lips. "Are you, by chance, taking us to the Jasmine Dragon for some tea?"

She rolls her eyes playfully. So he recognizes where she is taking him. "Not this time."

His brow raises as if saying, _There's going to be a next time?_

Katara shakes her head, turning away from him in order to focus on the task at hand. She pauses Zuko and his guards on the street outside the famous tea shop. It's heavily crowded, people coming in and out of the Jasmine Dragon, others buying goods at vendors or taking a stroll or simply loitering.

The Fire Lord has to raise his voice over the noisy street to ask, "Why are we here, Katara?"

She's too busy looking around at the faces of Caldera to tell what his expression is. "Tell me what you see here," Katara responds instead of answering his question.

Standing at the side of the street pressed against a wall doesn't give her the best view of the area, so she steps forward, closer to the moving mass of people. She scans everywhere, her gaze a beacon searching for something. Or rather, someone.

"I don't understand," she hears Zuko say behind her. Slight frustration lingers in his tone. "What do you mean tell you what I - _oof_."

His voice is abruptly cut, and Katara whirls.

Did something happen? She quickly scans his form. He seems to be all right, but surprise is etched into his face as he looks down ahead of him.

She follows the focused gazes of the Fire Lord and all of his guards to find the heap of gangly limbs and tattered clothing that lies at his feet.

Her eyes widen in recognition. It's the boy from before, who had stolen the apples for his friends, who had scurried away before she could even ask him his name.

She smiles at him, but he doesn't notice. He simply lies there, still recovering from the force of running into the Fire Lord. He blinks at Zuko. Zuko blinks back.

With a loud squeak, the boy scurries to his dirt-covered knees. Arms out in front of him, head pressed against the stone and dirt of the street, the boy bows before his Lord. Every inch of his body trembles and quakes. He's terrified, Katara realizes. The boy probably thinks Zuko will discipline him. Or worse.

She looks to Zuko, waiting to see what he will do, but he simply stands there, frozen and unsure. Katara sighs, stepping toward the boy.

"I've been looking for you," she says softly. She crouches down to his level, skirts fanning out around her. The boy pushes his greasy hair out of his eyes to look at her.

"Do you remember me?" she asks with a gentle smile. He nods, and momentarily stops trembling at the sight of a familiar face.

Zuko seems to find his voice again. "You two know each other?" he asks with suspicion, looking between Katara and the boy at his feet.

"We've bumped into each other before." She gives the boy a wink. He graces her with a smile.

She stands up, gesturing for the boy to do the same. "Come now."

For a second it appears as if he will, but then seems to remember who he sits in front of. He gazes up at Zuko with timid eyes, waiting.

Zuko nods. "You may rise."

As he does, Katara watches Zuko's reaction as he takes in the sight of his young subject. Messy hair, dirt stained cheek, ribs peeking out from a hole in his tunic. Unclean and underfed. She sees the shift in his gaze, the confusion and the pity.

"What is your name?" he asks the boy.

"Ravi," he all but whispers in response to being spoken to by the Fire Lord. "Your Majesty," he adds.

"Where are your parents, Ravi?" Zuko asks, though Katara thinks he already suspects the answer.

"They're gone," the boy replies.

"Where do you live, then?" the Fire Lord presses.

Ravi simply hangs his head and shakes it, eventually gesturing to the surrounding street.

It seems that Zuko is at a loss for words. Katara watches as he struggles to find something to say to this boy.

She moves closer to him, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Are your friends around?" she asks, and he nods. "Do you think you could find them for me?" Katara says softly.

Ravi's eyes fill with trepidation, and she doesn't blame him. He seems to be quite protective of his friends, if that day with the fruit vendor tells her anything.

"It's all right," she tells him. "No harm will come to them." She looks to Zuko, and he nods in affirmation.

"Okay," Ravi responds hesitantly. He starts to turn away. "I'll be right back," he says, then runs into the crowd.

Watching his disappearing form, Katara sighs once more. She moves to Zuko's side, gauging his reaction and awaiting his response.

He eventually speaks, his tone flat and eyes hard. "I wouldn't have suspected that this was what you wanted to show me. How long ago did you notice him?"

"During my patrol," she responds. "I ran into him, Ravi, and his friends. He stole some apples from a farmer, and I managed to defuse the situation." She steps closer to Zuko, meeting his gaze. "He was trying to feed them," Katara says, trying to keep her voice and her heart from cracking. "They looked like they were starving, poor things."

The Fire Lord looks away. His shame is so visible, so open. "I had no clue," Zuko says, words dripping with disappointment.

Before Katara can reply, Ravi is running to her side. A trail of four children, all younger, but just as disheveled and dirtied, timidly follow behind. They stop in front of Katara and Zuko, eyes wide, just as terrified as Ravi previously was.

The Fire Lord assesses them for a moment then, to Katara's surprise, drops into a crouch. He offers them a smile, a few reassuring words, and soon the children begin to inch closer.

She watches, a mixture of pride something else rising in her chest, as he spends time speaking with these children. Questions about their lives, their favorite games, the other children they know. Katara simply listens. Staying dutifully at her side, Ravi quips an answer every so often.

As she suspected, their parents are dead. They live on the streets, and basically grew up in gutters and alleyways. Every sad smile, every crooked grin reminds her that the costs of war don't stop with its end.

Eventually, Zuko seems satisfied with all of the answers he receives. He stands and thanks them, and the children, realizing they are free to go, quickly scatter. Katara expects to turn and find Ravi gone, but instead finds him moving to stand in front of Zuko.

Placing a clenched fist into an open palm, the boy bows, respectfully but somewhat clumsily. Zuko remains impassive for a heartbeat, but then smirks to himself and returns the same gesture. Katara's heart swells.

The boy pivots to her once more, his gaze full of questioning.

"I'll be back soon," she says. "I promise."

He smiles, nodding, then runs off into the direction of his friends.

After a moment, Katara gestures back the way they came, toward the palace. "Shall we?"

Zuko answers with a quick dip of his chin, then motions for his guards to move. The walk back to the palace is just as silent as when they left, but the air around Zuko is changed completely.

He has lost some of his confidence, she notes, and instead has replaced it with uncertainty. With dismay and anger. She wants to speak with him about it, but supposes the best time to do so would be when he has finally wrapped his mind around what he just witnessed.

Katara hopes to at least share her feelings about the situation with him when they are back at the palace. But when they reach the palace wall, she suspects that won't be the case.

Suki, Ty Lee, two other Kyoshi Warriors and an immeasurable amount of guards stand at the entrance. Noticing Suki's expression, Katara's stomach drops, dread filling every crevice of her body.

The Kyoshi Warrior Captain marches toward them as she and Zuko approach ahead of the guards escorting them. Her expression isn't displeased; it is absolutely furious.

" _Where have you been_?" she snarls, a blaze lighting her deep eyes.

Both Katara and Zuko are taken aback. "I went to attend to something in the city," Zuko answers quickly. "Katara accompanied me."

Pure, raw wrath seems to want to explode from Suki. She won't even look Katara in the eye.

"Suki, what's wrong?" she steps forward.

The Kyoshi Warrior's jaw is so tightly clenched when she responds that Katara worries her teeth will chip. "While _you_ two decided to go stroll through Caldera," she begins, "someone made it into your rooms, Zuko, armed with knives. _They were going to kill you._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Whew, it's been awhile. Thanks to everyone who is still sticking with this story.**

 **As always, thanks for reading!**


End file.
